Writing Progress

Well the inspiration gleaned from the visit to the mine ruins is definitely working. I sat down this past week and have rewritten three chapters. I have been able to use photos I took on the day to describe scenes and events in the early stages of the book. I have found my characters more believable and have been able to work the principle of 'showing not telling' through the MS so far. I find myself being uber-critical though, chopping every adverb I see, when actually sometimes they are required. Also I am worried it is not pacy enough; are my characters people will care about?; Are my plotlines too complicated for 8-12 year olds?
However all this worrying and self critique aside I am writing again and that makes me smile lots and lots. I felt lost without being able to write and making the time has meant my house is a mess and I am pressed with my other jobs to do, however a good friend reminded me today that I should be writing because I am passionate about it and not allow the guilt that so easily pervades my thoughts to stop me. Writing should be a joy, a blessing and a balm for the soul in a world that is an ever increasing 'microwave' culture. Yes being published will mean deadlines and more pressure, but to enjoy being creative within that is a privilege I hope to enjoy one day. I am looking forward to the prospect of being published one day and all that may bring, but for now I can meander down the river of pleasure, enjoying creating and experiencing the new worlds and new characters, I am creating, exciting my spirit and stimulating my creative senses.

Word Explosion Success!

I have been away from my blog a very long time and I apologise to all those who thought I may have fallen off the blogging planet. Amongst lots of other things (Christmas, snow, illness etc) I have been responsible alongside a colleague for the first Children and Young People's LitFest in North Cornwall. We had a number of workshops run by Caroline Binch, Bridget Crowley, Tim Bowler, Helen Dunmore and Jon Mayhew. Jon travelled from Cheshire to Cornwall to do two excellent sessions on Gory Ballads and Scary Stories, one of which was at Bodmin Jail, the other at Bude Castle. He had the largest turnout with 40 adults and kids at Bodmin and his book is not even out till April!! It was also fantastic because a parent came up to us at the end of his Bodmin session and explained that her son was extremely dyslexic and had been shy about sharing his story, however he had really been inspired by Jon and the session as a whole, which simply has to be a mark of success. It was also a joy to spend some time getting to know Jon and introduce him to a taster of Cornwall (and I don't just mean clotted cream scones!).
In addition I went to the session with Helen Dunmore, most known for her Ingo books. She was gracious and approachable to all who came to see her... a real gem. So I think I can safely say that it was a great start and we have lots to develop and build on for next year. It also inspired and motivated me in my writing as I admit to having had little writing time, although I did submit a short story in January. I think I had lost a little confidence and needed some encouragment and inspiration to revisit it and pick it up again. This has begun with a spring clean of my blog with a new design and the intention to keep it regularly updated and more writing focused. It has been a brilliant week and a special thank you to Jon for traveling so far and doing such great workshops that inspired the children of Bude and Bodmin this week.

Highs and Lows

I apologise for my terrible blogging at the moment. This past couple of weeks has been a series of highs and lows and it has meant that I have been through the emotional spectrum and had little time for blogging.


However here I am to share the highs and lows of early July!!

• High - Claire P has got a contract with an agent for 'Digging for Victoria' - FAB News


• High - Kat W has finished her first draft of her novel - well done mate


• High - Got the OK to organise Cornwall's first Children's Literary festival in February


• High - In connection with that, Helen Dunmore has expressed interest in being involved!!!


• High - My niece turned seven on Saturday and we had a lovely party despite the weather.


• High - Both my kids got great school reports

And now for the Lows

• 
  Low - Took my wonderful 7 year old son to see the Cleft team at The Royal Cornwall Hospital. Have been told he will need bone graft surgery in about 18 months time. He was born with a cleft lip and gum (see piccy above) and had his lip repaired at 10 days old. Since then we have put other surgery to the back of our minds, but as he now approaches 8 years old and more adult teeth are coming through, the time has come. He has to have a brace fitted first to widen the arch before they take the bone from his shin and graft it into his gum. Three days in Frenchay Hospital in Bristol! Sob!


• Low - Done diddly on my novel for two weeks


• Low - Stressed to eyeballs with work, delivering stuff and getting everything done for my schools before the end of term


• Low - Chicken problems -red mite infestation in chicken house. Chickens fighting and not getting on, one has gone broody and two have now stopped laying!


• Low - Point when I felt that I am wasting my time as I am probably not talented enough to even get my book finished, let alone read by an agent or a publisher!
  So there we are...strange fortnight. I am quite stressed about my boy, although it is all at least eighteen months away as I had almost convinced myself he would not need it. Deep breath and big sigh. Hope to be sunnier than the weather soon!

Just for Fun Competition

Having a good week so far. I managed to write about 3000 words over the weekend and I am hoping for a few thousand more this week. It is encouraging to begin to update the word count progress on my chart. Up to nearly 20000 and I am aiming at around 50000.

This picture was taken at Pembroke Castle while we were away on holiday in Wales a while back and Kat gave me an idea for a little fun competition I could have here on the blog. A useful writing exercise I do sometimes is to take a photo and write for thirty minutes about what the photo has made me think about. You can read a couple I did back along on my Thirty Somethings blog

I am sure you all have loads better and more productive things to do, however if you have time or a bit of a blank day and you would like to have a go, here's what to do.

Take a few minutes to look at the photo above and think about what it creates in your mind. Set a timer and write for thirty minutes. No editing once it is done. Email it to me at Michelle and I will publish entries on the Thirty Somethings blog. May be able to dig out some prizes but really it is just for fun. Enjoy!!

Inspirational Lewis!!

I have just finished watching the first in a new series of Lewis. I have not watched this before and confess to never being a Morse fan, but it was ironing night and so I gave it a go! I was gripped; probably because it centred around a young author who had had his fantasy novel published. Of course being a detective series there are grisly murders and seedy secrets, however I was intrigued with how the plot was laced throughout with cross references and nods to two writers who share Detective Lewis's surname:

CS Lewis

and
Lewis Carroll

One of the characters lectured on Carroll and the young author, who was later murdered by his foster mother/lover(!!) was inspired to write by CS Lewis. It was inspired how the references to these two authors, their love of fantasy and potentially their secrets was woven in alongside solid detective Lewis.

It also got me thinking, I wonder who we writing bloggers are/were inspired by? What authors inspired you as a child? Which books grip you now as an adult? Does your choice of writing reflect your tastes in reading? Answers in the comments box below folks, I really would love to know!

For me there are so many, however as a child I read CS Lewis, Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl in particular. I loved Famous Five and devoured them daily, reading them till I knew them by heart. I also read a lot of books about ponies!! As a teenager I was absorbed by Terry Pratchett and Arthurian legends. I think quite all of these have inspired me with fantasy and history (although I studied medieval history at Uni so I didn't need much encouragment!) In adult life I have read quite a bit of YA and 'tween' fiction, but without doubt one of my main inspirations has been Michelle Paver. I am reading, "Shadow mancer," by GP Taylor at the moment and really enjoyed Eoin Colfer's' "Airman," recently too. So now you know a bit more about my tastes, I would love to hear about yours!!

I'm Back!!

Sorry I have been out of the blogging way for over five weeks now!!! So busy and it seems every night I had no energy to sit and write a post. I am writing now with a flu thing going on in my body, but I wanted to make contact again with everyone...I missed y'all.

So what have I been doing for the past five weeks...well the picture above is our back garden about three weeks ago. Our part of Cornwall had snow for the grand total of two whole days, so we made the most of it, as you can see from the picture of Connor below.

Once the snow was gone I have managed to get on and write another chapter and a half of my YA novel. We also had a very dear friend of ours come and stay with us for a few days and I let him read the prologue to the novel. His life experiences made his comments very valuable to me for this story so it was great to talk through the book with him. Whilst he was down we went to Watergate Bay for the afternoon. the weather was good and the surf pretty spectacular to watch. Watergate Bay is a surfer beach but it is great for families as there is beautiful golden saand and small caves to explore. We had a great time there as some of the pictures below will show.

Reading an excellent book called, "Airman," by Eoin Colfer, great swashbuckling stuff, which was useful as I sat in the doctor's surgery yesterday for 40 minutes as they were running late.
Currently feeling very sorry for myself, but hopefully will be on the mend soon. Good to be back again!

Black Boxes, Puppets and Iced Coffee

In between various showers we managed to get some photos taken for the Black Boxes Competition on Caroline Smailes blog. My two kids are puppet crazy so it seemed fitting to start with these!

Clyde!

Connor with Dec

Dec

Family photo!

We have a puppet ministry at our church and Connor has just started performing with the team, so we are constantly surrounded by puppets!

Had a great day today, went pottery painting with the kids and had a lovely time - followed by an iced coffee in a fav local cafe. The iced coffee is a special favourite of mine as it contains cream and ice cream...totally GI friendly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keen to try and write up some of the work I did on holiday and formulate it into chapters as it was one long piece of narrative that needs structuring.

Also now got to cook hubby food and evict broody chicken from the nest again to make sure she eats...such a shame we have no cockerel so the eggs she is sitting on will never hatch...we know this but clearly she remains unconvinced, even when we remove them each day. Hopefully better weather awaits tomorrow for a trip out, otherwise I might just have to go and see Mamma Mia again, just for the scenery and the sunshine!!

Who's well that ends well

All is well with the world for me tonight!!! (Spoiler alert for anyone who cares and has not watched tonights final episode of Dr Who). DT remains as the Doctor, so I can enjoy his presence on my TV for while longer yet. I know I am a grown woman of 35 (and a half) but maybe it is the testimony to the great writing on this series that I am totally addicted. Sci-Fi is not always my thing, but I enjoy clever plots, intelligent and funny dialogue and a reality to the characters that for the most part Dr Who gives. It can never be totally happy ever after as we saw tonight but it is enough to give closure for children (and for me!!).

Planning to do some writing tonight, maybe another 30 minute piece, if I have time after tiding up as may have visitors from up-country tomorrow. Also my sister has given me a recipe for a pastry free quiche, so may give that a go too.

The memory stick has gone with Rose back to the parallel universe so I am facing the fact I am going to have to start to rewrite the chapter summaries...bother!...well at least I hadn' gone too far with it.
Have a great weekend every one.

Its MeMe from Kat

Kat at Wrightstory has tagged any readers to do her MeMe so I thought I might have a go. It has been a cleaning day today, clearing the debris from the weekend. Yesterday the chickens had a spring clean and sweep out, today it was the turn of the playroom/junk room/Room 101!!

Here it goes with the MeMe:

What is by your bedside?

A table lamp I got as a wedding present, Outcast by Michelle Paver, 3 notebooks and 3 pens (nothing left to chance for those 3 am moments!, Kylie Minogue's pefume 'Darling' , Children's Writers and Illustrators Handbook 2008, handmade bookmark and absolutely no space whatsoever!

Name ten things in your fridge.

Large tub of grated cheese, homemade quiche (have an abundance of eggs, thanks to our chickens), homemade salsa, cherry tomatoes, multiple cartons of fruit juice, leeks (must use these), raspberry jam, strawberries, lemon and lime marmalade (mmmmmm) and milk (for the gallons of tea my hubby drinks).

Name five things in my handbag

Mobile phone, 4 pens (I kid you not), notebook, small travel perfume 'Urban Flowers', work ID

Name three web addresses that come up with the first letter

Amazon, Ebay, The Book People

What is in the unassigned junk drawer where all the clutter is put?

Plug covers, sewing kit, mini screwdriver set, pens, mobile phone charger, pencil sharpener, Indian takeaway menu, mini torch, tubigrip and a fish shaped scoobie. An eclectic mix!

Describe five picture that are on the walls of your house:

A gorgeous photo of Connor aged 2, the photo above of my kids at Minions on Bodmin Moor, a crosstitch of a dragon wrapped around a medieval castle I did when I was at Uni, oil painting of a stile by the ocean (done by a Cornish artist), three picture frames that have pressed autumn maple leaves in it (did it myself when I was pregnant with Connor)

Enjoyed that! Anyone reading this who wants to have a go, it would be great to do this with a character in your book!

Unique!

Kat and I had an hour or so together tonight writing. We both chose to do different things but we both did a thirty minute writing exercise to stimulate our creative brain cells. Have a look at Thirty Somethings for my efforts tonight and in addition Kat wrote over 300 words for her piece. We shared our work with each other, which is always an encouragement, because hearing your own voice sometimes does not encourage you that your writing is any good. Kat was not very positive about her piece, but it was excellent - had me hooked and wanting to know more. It reminded me that as writers, either published or wanna be's like Kat and myself, we have a unique voice. The spin you choose on a topic, the vocabulory, sentence structure, choice and communication of characters makes any original piece of writing a unique creation, personal to the style and preferences of the creator. It is never helpful to compare in such a way as to put your own work down (something I am good at), although aspiring to be better is no bad thing. I admire some authors work and feel I can learn a lot from them, especially on technical isues such as plotting and progression, however the stories we write and the voice we write in, is unique and should be treasured. I chose this picture to illustrate this point as Connor, Hollie, Andy and I did a piece of beach art together a couple of months back at Porthpean beach. We drew a castle and added details as they dictated, hence the seaweed haired princess and the fearsome dragon. The picture, (like my kids) was unique and special to us who each had a part in creating it...so it is with the written creations we nurture, they are unique and special and we should be proud of them, even if others do not see them the same way.

Missing Memory Stick, A New Blog and Sports Day

Gorgeous day today - really warm and lots of bright sunshine. Hollie is improving today, but spent much of the day curled up on the sofa watching various Disney princess movies. Connor had his sports day today (that's him in red on the right of the picture). So I was there cheering him on, keeping my own competitive streak in check...I think!! Even took part in the Mum's race which was particularly funny as it was egg and spoon, and I am known for my clumsiness...need I say more?

I have decided as I am unlikely to want to publish my writing exercises that I am doing to help me while I search for my missing memory stick containing the synopsis and chapter headings for my book (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), that I would create a second blog to house some of the work I do. If you are interested to read any of my thirty minute pieces they cane be found at http://www.michellethirtysomethings.blogspot.com/.

Please feel free to comment but be gentle with me!! In the mean time I am also on the hunt for my missing memory stick...they are neat being so small, but a nightmare when they go missing!! I am keeping relatively calm as I know it is here somewhere..BUT WHERE?????

Answers on a postcard or a post comment please!

I have also got a cool little slideshow at the side from my Red Bubble page. Kat told me about this site where you can upload your own artwork/writing/photos for free and then you can have the option to sell them as cards/prints etc, with red bubble taking their fee and then the remainder goes into a paypal account. Had a few viewings but no sales yet. My name there is Kernowpics, so have a look at the slideshow and have a look at red bubble (www.redbubble.com)

A Camel and a Cave

Today has been frantic but has ended well. Hollie is still harbouring a nasty sickness bug, so has been asleep most of the day. Connor and Andy went for a boys bike ride on the Camel Trail and Andy was good enough to take a lovely picture of the River Camel for my blog! I have been feeling guilty all day as Hollie has been periodically weeping telling me how hungry she is and I have been trying to explain that food is making her sick, so she really can only drink. Explaining the benefits of fasting to overcome sickness to a three year old is a non-starter really.

I have managed to start my writing challenge today based on the picture from yesterday's post. The picture is of a sea cave on Perranporth beach that I took last summer when we were returning from our camping trip near St. Ives. I was amazed at the images and the story that it evoked for me. My 30 minutes became 45 so I could put an end to the piece I was writing. The thing that surprised me most was the empathy and almost physical pain I shared with my character as she grieved for a lost brother. Maybe because it was written 'under pressure' but I really felt able to communicate her pain by actually feeling it myself to a point. Hope this happens often as it is going to help me with my character for my book, who is a young carer.

So despite a stressful and sickness filled day, the end of the day has brought a really positive time of writing which can only be useful longer term. Off to continue with Soul Eater now.

Inspiration and a promise to myself

Our local weekly paper had a supplement in it this week which was about 25 full page pictures of the Cornish coastline from the air. There were some truly stunning photos of what is, I have to say it, an inspirational coastline. I have a few favourites, the pictures of Tintagel, Bedruthan Steps, Crown Mines at Botallack and Kyance are awesome. They got me thinking as I have had an emotional and frustrating couple of days around my writing. I have decided to use these pictures and some of my own and set myself a 30 minute writing challenge every day based on one of these pictures. I will aim to write for thirty minutes using one image a day. The aim is to get me back into writing and believing that that I can write something meaningful each day. thirty minutes is achievable, and the rare days when I have more time I will dedicate to my book. The picture above is one I took last year at Perranporth beach and I think I will start with this one tomorrow and then begin with the supplement pictures on Monday. Decided to log each day's progress here to help me post regularly too.

Had a big inside day today, Hollie is unwell and it has rained and rained and rained. Our four chickens were more liked drowned muddy rats than beautiful soft feathered birds when I went down to see them this evening. All four looked singularly unimpressed with the weather but perked up when I brought gifts of sweetcorn and bread and milk mash. Chickens may not be the brightest birds but they are very attentive if your hands contain something edible!!

Chapters and Titles

I manged to get my chapter plan done yesterday helping me with my plotting. I had a great time working out the plan and some of the titles, although for some of them even I am not sure yet what they mean! What started as a Children's historical novel is evolving by the day into history mixed with time travel, magic and adventure. It is exciting to experience the evolution of characters and plot line and I do not want to lose this momentum.

I enjoy having a thinking place, like Pooh Bear, and this photo I took last autumn at Lanhydrock kind of encapsulates one of my ideal thinking places...by a river, lots of trees, isolated spot and lots of time to enjoy it with only a pen and notebook for company.

My office space is evolving painfully slowly, hampered by lack of funds, but I have decided to seek out a traditional writing desk, because although I am like to write on the computer, my note taking, spider diagrams and planning would need a spacious surface. Also I would need drawers for my copious amounts of notebooks and pens!!!!

Thoroughly enjoying reading Spirit Walker By Michelle Paver, Book 2 of The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. I loved Wolf Brother, but this one has really gripped me. Interesting to read in a series of books how the author put tags down throughout the first book to then develop the events of subsequent books. Good lesson to learn and practice as my novel is also evolving into a five part series.

Good to feel passionate about this sort of thing when feeling like a squashed pancake in other areas of life, the universe and everything. Also really excited as my neighbour, Kat, has finished the first draft of her first novel and I am delighted for her.

Needing Time

Had a great day with my family and inlaws near Newquay today. Gorgeous weather, beautiful views across stunning coastline and a really wondeful time without incident or argument.

I have decided to try and time manage a bit more. Me being me, I have good intentions and then suddenly discover that the day has been filled with a thousand things. I am determind to marry imagination and memory stick and get myself writing every day. I had a new thought about how I would start the book and progress it and this is exciting and I am keen to get going. The children go back to school tomorrow after a long weekend and I will not allow the things of this world to interfere! I am desperate to get on with the book and keen to visit Morwhellam Quay soon, as it was an important port in the Victorian copper mining period and I hope to be able to pick the brains of one of their key folk up there. It has been the story of my life that I have ideas and no time or place to write them and it is up to me not to allow this to keep happening. If I want to pursue my dream of being a published children's writer, then I need to grab this by the horns. I am going to have to stop comparing myself to others and focus on the heart that drives me and what makes me tick.