WRITING PROGRESS

End of Month Report
Well, the end of the first month of a new year and how does it feel? Did the earth move? (Last year it did, literally here, we had a bit of an earth tremor). It's been a hard month and looking back through diaries and old blogs it always is a hard month, so some things are just meant to be. Anyway, thought I'd summarise my highs...

• 4 short story submissions, one of them supporting 100 stories for Queensland - my good deed for the month
• Blogged at least three times a week, two on here and one over at Joe Bloggs
• Had a short story - The Crunch - short-listed for The Pages Competition
• Submitted a January Challenge and regular Monday Muses to Writers Abroad
• Have started work on projects and submissions for February (it should be March but hey, its progress!)
• Have made small inroads with developing a pocket novel out of a larger piece of work

and lows...

• Having a week, yes seven days, where I struggled to find my muse. She is slowly returning, albeit with a little reluctance
• Not achieving as much as I'd like to on my bigger projects - I don't give them the right time, so changes ahead for next month

So not bad at all, February is a short month and one of my favourites (not least because I was born in it!). I have lots of plans and its an exciting time over at Writers Abroad as we're planning our second anthology, so keep eyes pealed for news.

Until Later...

WRITING ZONES

How Comfortable Are You?
Writing is for many of us something we just have to do. It's not an option, it's a must do. Many writers develop their craft within a particular genre or style which they feel comfortable with and in addition perhaps like to read themselves (oh yes, we writers are readers as well!). The advice 'write what you know' are sage words from those who know better, but sometimes can be a little constrained. And writing isn't supposed to be about constraint, more like a free hand, because it needs to flow. I like to try and experiment with different techniques and most of the time I return to the one I feel most comfortable with - which is fine, no harm done and a lot learnt in the process and I'm thinking particularly here about my attempt at writing monologue. 


At Writers Abroad, we like raising the bar a little and dipping a toe in the water, so our next challenge has the choice of a crime story. I've only just started reading this genre, beginning with Rebus, then the Stieg Larsson trilogy and now the Jo Nesbo series. Can I write and scare readers half to death at the same time? I'm not sure, although I've loved these books so far, I'm not too comfortable now about tattoos or snowmen, so the impact these writers had on me is quite profound. I am known for a penchance for killing off my characters, but usually the death is one from illness, old age or fighting in a war or battle. Not a deliberate, bare faced kill. Thing is, I'm quite looking forward to it and have already been doing some investigation on the internet. Not just about techniques but real crimes (the story has to include one murder) and I felt a little nervous I must admit. What we writers can get away with in the name of our research
I'll let you know how it goes... and if anyone has any advice, I'm all ears!

EDITORIAL CALENDARS

Make Them Work for Fiction
I've been thinking a lot about the writing year ahead (note the emphasis on thinking). Editorial Calendars are used a lot by magazines and the media to plan the articles they plan to publish. Having some sort of overall picture helps to ensure that articles are relevant and timely. And, if you are a writer like me who needs some sort of inspiration to write fiction, especially short stories, I kind of thought that maybe it could work for providing some sort of 'short story' calendar. There are lots of anniversaries that happen throughout the year, ranging from the first man on the moon, through several wars and even the odd famous birthday here and there. And then of course there are the planned events of the year, William and Kate for one, the World Cup Rugby and the regulars including Valentines, Easter... the list goes on. 
There is a great site for Anniversary planning(and plenty of others) , if that's your kind of thing called Ideas4Writers  where they list the events in plenty of time to develop a project. This kind of planning worked well for my non-fiction projects, so I thought I might give it a try for some short story pieces. I've already drafted an Easter story, in the form of a muse over at Writers Abroad, so that's a beginning, the key thing then is to find a market, but I should think the regulars would welcome themed stories as long as they are submitted in plenty of time. So if your'e stuck, why not get your calendar out and start jotting down a few ideas. Every little helps...
Until Later...

WRITING BLUES

Be Prepared for Blue Monday
According to research the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year. That means that last Monday 17 January was the day. Phew... that's okay then it's over. 
Well, noooo,  not exactly. 
In 2011 we have two potential Blue Mondays according to those in the know, this is because there is a full week of January left after this coming Monday, the 24th and not surprisingly this all ties in with the festive season, the weather and the state of our bank balances. For me the third factor doesn't change all year, but I know that I'm not the only one who has found this week difficult, particularly in terms of writing. I think it should be declared a Blue Week and lets be done with it. There is the issue that if you are told something is going to happen then of course you will do everything in your power to make sure you experience it. But feeling blue at this time of the year goes back centuries, to our Pagan forefathers and sometimes you have to accept that what will be, will be. So the advice for getting over the Monday Blues, is the same for us writers struggling to find the will to write, nothing new, but no harm in revisiting the things that could help.

1. Call a friend you haven't spoken to in ages and catch up on their news
2. Go for a walk, or do some exercise of a kind (lifting a wine glass is not included in this category)
3. Pamper yourself, give in to your sins - a chocolate biscuit, a bag of crisps, a glass of wine
4. Try something new, for me it's been Killer Sudoko - but very unsuccessful so far
5. Plan a holiday (or the vegetable patch) - something to look forward to
6. Talk to your partner or settle down with a sad film and a box of Kleenex, a cry is good for you
7. Turn off the PC, read a book (or two) by your favourite author and dream...

Hope your Monday is not too Blue...

WRITING RHYTHM

Finding the Right Beat


After a frustrating week last week, compounded by falling and damaging my thumb and wrist, I sat back and gave myself a serious talking too. Having excited myself dizzy by setting a writing strategy and drilling down to the nitty gritty of my writing fantasies, I felt I should have been further on. 
Like all good intentions, strategies, goals and action lists are only as good as the activities which make them happen and that means getting into a rhythm, finding your pace. Letting the dust settle after all this navel gazing actually means you have to look through the haziness and settle into some kind of routine. Oh! I can hear the cry, but isn't creativity ruined by routine? Not in my writing world, in fact I know that despite my desire to be a wandering scribe, I need to develop a system. I buck against this all the time like a teenager asked to tidy their room. One of my strategies for writing was to expand my 'portfolio' of stories for development. To achieve this I set myself the goal of free writing to a daily prompt. Now I do accomplish this most weeks for Writers Abroad where I really enjoy the challenge of our Monday Muse. In previous years I have for weeks on end, written in a daily journal, using a prompt. 
So I know I can do it. 
The reason I've managed to carry out this activity is because I plan to do it at a regular time (that is in the morning almost before I've discovered it's daylight). It worked then and without that pace, it isn't now.  So listen to your heart and see what your rhythm is telling you.
Until Later...

WRITING TARGETS

It's All in the Detail
Last week I shared some of my writing strategies for 2011. My thoughts have not strayed far from them especially as I realised I struggled to do little else last week, despite having a strategy. And then it struck me and yes it was the middle of the night and I wrote my thoughts down in my bedside journal (always a must for a writer I'm told). I realised that having a strategy is the right thing to do in a big way and in general, is a means to an end, but it's a rather large thing to achieve. So without relying on the old hat management speak of yesteryear, I decided I needed to be more specific on a weekly and daily basis about what I wanted to achieve. As you know I'm a keen list maker but I do have a habit of being a little over optimistic and vague -  'I will write that novel today' - well not quite that bad but you get the gist. So this morning, before I even kicked the PC into life, I wrote some small but realistic actions for every day this week. I can  and have done this on a regular basis. But the key thing is to make sure it relates to my strategy, instead of just random actions that actually are never going to see the light of day! So at the end of the week I hope to feel a little more happy about my achievements and if so may even tell you about them here!


However, part of this little Miss Organised sometimes makes me think I'm just avoiding the 'writing' bit. What do you think?
Until Later...

WRITING STRATEGY

Keep the Home Fires Burning
At the beginning of the week made some plans about some works in progress which I have had in my 'action' pile for some time. I was horrified to see that I'd actually left one out of the game. Was that deliberate I ask myself? The project is a fusion of fiction and fact about how I (and my Man Friday) ended up living here in Italy and for that reason it is quite special. We wrote it together and much of it has been based on real life experiences with characters who could be based loosely on ourselves but with some differences. At the moment it really reads like an account and much as we've tried to distance ourselves from the reality it's a difficult balance to make. However, I have written a couple of additional 'short stories' based on the characters and some of it more fiction than fact. So this piece of work, with a working title of 'La Dolce Vita' (not very inspiring I know, but bear with me) is going to be reviewed as a series of short stories and each one revisited in that vain. So that's my major projects dealt with. In terms of new stuff I've now written my 'Writing Strategy' which includes the following:

• To write and edit at least 2 new short stories per month (probably based on the Monday Muses I submit to Writers Abroad)
• Submit at least 4 short stories per month to competitions or appropriate markets. If I don't get them out there how can they be considered for publication? In 2010 I made 33 submissions, had 5 short-listed and 3 published, so need to up the anti a little.
• Write a fantasy based story for young adults - this is the 'out of the comfort zone' project which will hopefully test my writing skills on a number of levels, the genre, the readership and therefore the storytelling. There are a couple of members at Writers Abroad who I'm counting on to see me through this!

So, my fire has been laid, all I need to do now is keep it alight and fuelled and hopefully my writing muscle will  be kept warm enough to deliver! 
One must dare to dream...

NEW BEGINNINGS

What Does The Writing Future Hold?
Well, we're at that time of year. The time of the blank page for writers (though for some, perhaps many of us, that time occurs often over the period of twelve months!). But for me, this is a time to reflect on the past, celebrate the successes and learn from the failures. I like living in the present, after all, it's the time and place to be. In the moment. But I also like to think of the unwritten future and make some promises, in the true knowledge that some of those plans will probably be far too ambitious, but just dare to dream. A writing future is the same as any future, some of may be known, most of it is a mystery but all of it stems from a desire to write and to keep on writing (and hopefully improve a little on the way). So this week begins with a little bit of crystal ball gazing, making some new goals, perhaps deciding to ditch a few on the way, but come what may, my future has to be about writing. A good start is a review of my current writing projects: 

1. All Will Be Well - a novel I wrote over some years and well, it's my first baby. But the time has come for some harsh choices and I know that I either have to shelve the project and allow it to gather dust or do something with it. I had a positive response about turning it into a 'pocket novel' which I am going to revisit this month. If not, then it will be on the shelf - so my short term project.
2. The Promise - my second novel, which I have had some feedback from my pals over at Writers Abroad. It deserves a revisit of the outline, so it's going to be snowflaked (and check out my earlier posts if you don't know what this means). My intermediate project, lets say by March? (yes, March 2011)
3. The Morning Gift - is still half-written, but has a good synopsis and maybe out of all of the three of them has the best potential, so I have to get this finished and this is going to be given some time to allow me to revisit what I've done and where I'm going with it. I've read a lot in this genre and timing (the saxon/medieval times) and its one I really enjoy reading about. So my long term project - September.
4. My 2010 NaNoWriMo challenge, on which I have spent some time on, I'm just not sure about. I lost my way after having to abandon it for very good reasons. I think I need to let this one muster whilst I sort out the other three. It's been a useful exercise to try the plotting method out and I'm sure that it's the right way to go about things. So that will be on a list of  'maybes'.

So at the end of the week, I hope to have something to share with you about some new projects. Some which  may not be quite in my comfort zone, but nevertheless, will be a challenge either for my writing or otherwise! Until later...