Article blog series and new blog title

Hello all,
I've been thinking about the direction of my blog for a while now and what value I want to give to those who read it. First of all it is of course a blog following my experiences as a new writer and in time hopefully as a professional writer but I have been thinking how best can I get that across without coming across as an egomaniac, or boring, self absorbed and so on. I had a few ideas and decided my favourite is to write my blog as a series of articles each coming back to a certain point. Which hopefully can show my own personal journey but also help other along theirs. I'm also changing the title of my blog Life Writing was only really temporary because I couldn't think of a better title but I am now changing to Resilient Writer, as that is what I am aiming for.

Any way with out further ado, I plan to write about my journey through writing via a series of articles, each article will belong to a category which I will outline below so you can find everything easily. The articles will be both personal and advice articles from my own tips and others I find from other wonderful people throughout the community.

Series include:
Back to Basics...
Just starting out in writing, not been writing very long or you just want to get back to the reasons you started in the first place, then you want back to basics. This section is all about the things you need to think about and do before anything else.

Levelling up...
Got the basics down, then its time to step it up a gear. Maybe you have sold your first article/ short story or eBook and want to progress into the big leagues, then this is the section for you. Featuring better equipment, tips, how to look through the eyes of a publisher plus much more.

Resilience/ Rejection...
It's going to come, you know it is. But how are you going to deal with it (bar screaming and shouting and sending an angry email to the publisher.) (Hint: this is a joke don't ever do this!) Tips on how to deal with the dreaded rejection letter from your very first one, to the day when you receive 15 of them.

10,000 hours...
They say it takes 10,000 hours to develop talent and this still doesn't guarantee success or a nice big fat pay check at the end... yet you are still writing. This section is dedicated to you, how to push on as well as challenges we can do together to reach the target.

Purpose and productivity...
What's your purpose/dream: to get published in your favourite magazine, to win a local competition, to win the Bridport prize for flash fiction, to sell 1 million copies of your book? Figure out your biggest dreams here and then how to find the time to pursue them.

Passion...
This section is all about drive and how other people keep it, this includes kick up the backside articles and answering some serious questions about your writing passion.

101...
This is writing 101, these are some pretty long articles featuring 101 things like inspiration, challenges, quotes and so on.

Competitions...
 This section will feature competitions up and coming, free competitions and the big competitions you can enter as well.

Down to business...
These articles will be for the business side of writing, how to deal with the finances, the day to day number counts, how to think like a professional, spreadsheets and the like. 

Personal...
There will still be personal articles on the blog, these will mostly report on my progress and goals once a month on the 1st.

Arriving late to the 2014 goal party

There’s always one! In my defence my internet connection has been all over the place for the last few months and I’ve been working on an unrelated project (Doesn’t life always get in the way) However I am back with a-vengeance posting my goals for the year today and then I have a post coming up on Wednesday and Thursday, Blogger may explode with confusion.

First off a review of my 2013 writing:

Could have been a lot better, I have had a big project going through 2013 which severely hampered my writing time as well as being in my accident at the end of 2012. However there are some positives:

1. I have my first finished poem, I have always started poems and have a stack of unfinished ones but I have got a finished poem this year (after 30 re-writes) small proof that I can finish what I start.

2. I have had 131 ideas for short stories, poems, articles, letters and books. Yes I am sad and keep a count of this each year, my mum has scheduled tests. I think it’s good though, I haven’t got up the confidence to send anything off yet so I need to find my goals and sense of achievements elsewhere.

3. Of those ideas I have had 3 fiction book ideas, one which I have made a start on and I am hoping to finish in 2014. I have also had 4 non-fiction book ideas which I am hoping to find the time to look at, at some point in my life.

4. I have wrote double what I wrote in 2012, even with the big project and accident and illness so at least my output is going up not down.

Disappointments of 2013:

1. I failed miserably at NaNoWriMo in November only getting just over 10,000 words; I’m going to give that another go this year.

2. I really wanted to get the courage up last year to send off my work for others to see, but the best I did was an extra family member and uni tutors.

Onwards to 2014:

Main, big goals:

1. My main big goal for 2014 is to finish the first draft my first novel, I made a start last year and have the general ideas laid out, I would like the novel to reach 100,000 words but I don't know if it will go over this. I have a good plan in place and I have high hopes for this goal this year.

2. My over-reaching main goal this year is to get up my output, both word count and submissions. So my second main goal for this year is to write 52 short stories, that is one short story a week. I don't suspect I will complete this goal but wanted to aim high and try and get as close as possible. Goal 1 will come first which will but this goal on the back burner some months. If that happens I will be happy as long as I tried my best.

3. Continue working hard with all my studies, I had to put off level 2 creative writing last year but hopefully I can finish it this year and I will be starting Level 3 Advanced creative writing in September/October. I will also be continuing on with my Writer’s Bureau comprehensive writing course, Poetry course and writing for competitions course. I am hoping to finish both poetry and writing for competitions courses this year. 

4. Complete National Novel Writing Month in November, I failed miserably last year but really would like to complete this just once to say I can do it, I have a lot going on at that time this year but I am going to give it my best go.

5. Publish non-fiction; Making a more concentrated effort on the non-fiction side this year, I’m hoping to start with trying to publish a reader’s letter which is the first goal and if I am able to do that I will move on to goal two; a filler.

Smaller goals, with just as much importance:

1. Go to my first writing retreat, I have never been to one but read many times from other writers about the many benefits. I am going to the winters fish guard at the end of this month and hopefully I can also get a place booked on the week long swan wick writers retreat as well.

2. Go to my first literacy festival, this year I want as many new writing experiences as i can and I have again read about the many writer benefits of these. I haven’t made an solid plans here yet but watch this space.

3. Visit the British library in London, I have been meaning to do this for a few years now and I have named a date after my University courses for this year finish so I can use this as a reward as well.

4. Join a writing group; I’m quite upset I was not able to get up the courage to do this last year. I am a very shy person and I haven’t had the chance to meet another writer in the flesh yet. I have found a writing group nearby that looks promising. I just need to get up the gumption to call and enquire.

5. Write more poetry; poetry is my first love, but I really want to make a living with my writing one day, which means very often it is on the back burner or the last thing I find time for. It will most likely be the same this year but I would like to put some time aside to write more this year. Last year I was able to finish my first poem and I would really love if I could add another say 5-10 completed poems to this total.

6. Read as much as possible; you cannot be a writer if you are not a reader, and due to time constraints I didn’t really read very much last year. I would like to read at least 5 writing books and 20 new fiction books.

Optional extra goal:

Start work on a cookbook – One of my main life goals is to publish cookbooks, I was a chef for a while and I adore everything about food, to trying new ingredients, trying new restaurants and recipes and of course eating. So this year in any spare time I am able to find I would really like to work towards this goal. I’m thinking of doing a sort of free “sample” cookbook first with a limited number of recipes just to gage reaction and iron out any wrinkles as well as seeing if I want to go down the e-publishing route instead of traditional. As this is just when I have a spare minute and due to the fact I have some big goals going on before it I expect progress here to be slow but I really would like to make a start on this goal this year.

That sounds like more than enough to be going on with for one year, I will post once a month as close to the 1^st of the month as possible, I’m away on the writer’s retreat in March so I won’t be posting until about the 4^th. 

I hope you all have a productive writing year.

July update

O.k. practising the art of honesty here, this month could have gone better, a lot better. In my defence I was away on holiday for a good portion of the month and to be honest it took longer to get back into this writing malarkey then I first thought. As the month has gone on I have got better, after my blog post my writing didn't really register till the 22nd, my best writing day was the 30th when I clocked up just over 1,700 words, so when I do get into writing I can get the numbers up. Anyway here is how my goals stacked up.

1. Write my first novel
I probably did the most work on this goal, I found my original notes in my old notebook and there was actually more there than I remembered so that was a plus. I've got a rough outline and a good idea of direction, I now know my main characters name and some features, I am hoping to finish all the initial planning by the 15th August so I can make a start on writing the actual novel, but I am reasonably happy with my progress.

2. Write 2 new short stories a month
This is one of the main places I fell down, I didn't write any short stories, however my main goal for this was 12 new short stories by the end of 2013 so with a bit of luck and time I can till do that by writing 3 stories in other months, so I’m not to disappointed not happy but it could be worse. Though this does mean more work for two months later in the year.

3. Write and sell a readers letter
This is the goal where I have to submit something, so I have come against a brick wall with lack of confidence to send the damn letter off, but I have written a letter and it is ready to be sent, I just have to find it in myself to click the send button.

4. Start and complete the writers' bureau comprehensive writing, poetry and competitions courses.
I don't study well in the weather so I did something really important last week I brought a fan for my room; I'm hoping that will help with the output. What I did do was re-read over modules 1 and 2 for the comprehensive to remind myself of that info and I read module 1 of the poetry course. Not a massive amount but a small nudge in the right direction. I also found my old rough notes for comprehensive assignment one and there was quite a lot there! I've pretty much written it, it just need putting in the right order, editing and typing up on my computer so I am hoping to get my first assignment off on 11th August for comprehensive.

5. Open degree with Open University with creative writing and design
For this I finished a rough timetable and read the study guide, trying to remind me of all the work I've got to do which in retrospect was a bad idea as I’m not worried about the workload. Oh well on wards and upwards, I did study the first few weeks before the accident so I will quickly work through the first few weeks and then go to 1 chapter a week.

6. Read 5 writers’ books
I re-read the positively productive by Simon Whaley which I really wanted to do though it sparked me off on writing up these long term goals into short and medium which took up some writing time but which will certainly help in the long run, I recommend this book to all writers, it is a fabulous kick up the arse, I finished it on the 31st and have wrote both on the 1st and second this month. I also made a start on the night time novelist which has been extremely useful in my novel planning so far.

7. Read 20 new books and 26 total books by the end of 2013.
This is another place I fell down, I did read a lot when I was away but it was all magazines! Though that did include 2 writing magazines, 3 design magazines and a travel magazine, so I’m not going to beat myself up to much but try harder next month.

8. Writing courses
I'm sorting this out this coming week. (I could have done something this month but didn't... cough)

9. Join a writers group and attend once a month
I'm a shy person so I have been finding it hard to call up about this, I have found a writing group and found where they hold meetings, which is thankfully only a 20 minute walk from me and I know when the next meeting is, I AM going to call up on Monday and see if I can come along. (I also found a local poetry group which meet each Tuesday which I may look into.

10. Keep up with blog posts
It should be quite obvious looking at this blog I scr**ed up royally on this one, again I was away and I didn't have internet access during that time, I did however write up a list of blog ideas which I'm looking forward to writing up. So hopefully I will do a lot better on this one next month. (It's not like I can do any worse.)

Best writing day – 30th July: I wrote just over 1,700 words, read freelance market news and finished up my long, medium and short term goals list.

Worst writing day: Well I didn’t write anything between 2nd-22nd of July (Away for most of this time) however I did do reading on some days and research on others. My worst days were 11th and 19th July. On the 11th I was travelling and instead of reading like planned, I catched up on ZZZZ’s during that time and I came back on the 19th and had work as well so I was shattered.

The Good: Finished a letter and Novel planning.
The Bad: No new short stories, studied very little.
New words written: 5000
Submissions: 0
Competitions entered: 0
Books read: 1
Magazines read: 5
Old words gone over: Novel planning and rough work for comprehensive assignment one, looking through it all roughly4000-5000 words
Income: 0
Expenses: £47.21 (Combination of magazines and stationary)
 

Writing restart

After such a long break from writing, it's time to get back to it. Due to the break I think it would be best to give myself a little direction, some goals to work towards so I know where I am going. For the last half of 2013 I have 10 writing goals I would like to achieve. Can I? Only time will tell, but I will give it my best shot. I will update on the first of each month (or as close as possible with how I have got on. I think I have chosen a good time, it's not only halfway through the year but it is my birthday today, so it's like my own personal New Years. Apologies to those who don't enjoy these type of posts, please do skip and I will update once a week with writing articles.

1. Write my first novel

I have the initial idea outlined (very roughly) and some of the main characters but there is still tons to do! The story arc, character profiles, character names (only of the main character so far), pov, style, timeline etc. not to mention actually writing the book might help. I am going to aim for a rough draft of 100,000 words by the end of December. I'm thinking I will have my first go at national novel writing month in November to write the main bulk of the novel which leaves 5 months to write the other 50,000. If I use July for planning that's 12,500 a month. (Help!)

2. Write 2 new short stories a month

So I can get some writing practice in, work on different ideas and characters. Not so sure about submitting anything just yet, but maybe towards the end of the year.

3. Write and sell a reader's letter

This is my first stepping stone on the way to publication, hopefully it will be a fun and fruitful journey, though I am expecting a lot of headaches, rejections and bumps along the way.

4. Start and complete the writers Bureau comprehensive course:

Unbelievably I still have not even got the first assignment off for this course, I think this has been down to bad luck, procrastination (I am currently doing a anti- procrastination course, I've done the first 3 weeks and I finish the last week this weekend), and a large amount of fear as no one other than me has really read my work before, they may tell me I am no good and to never write again!!!!!!!!!!!! OK so over dramatizing but that's how I feel, so I really need to get up the courage to send this off.

The Bureau's poetry course:

It's the same story here, I need to grab the bull by the horns and just get up the courage to click the send button!

The writer's bureau writing competitions - the way to win

A friend got me this for Christmas this year (knew I shouldn't have told anyone I write) its the smallest of the three courses I have got so it would be good if I could finish this one this year and it may finally give me the courage to submit to a competition, and stop me making any stupid beginner mistakes.

5. Open degree with open university in creative writing and design

Due to the car accident I had to pull out of my two courses for this year so I am going back to the big red book for next year, and will hopefully complete it this time round, as I already have the book from last year, I plan to make a start with it this month and get ahead for once in my life.

6. Read 5 writers books by the end of 2013

I would like to read 4 new writing books this year, these are the nighttime novelist, book in a month, two teach yourself books: get started in creative writing and write short stories and get them published. And chicken soup for the soul inspiration for writers. I would also like to re-read Simon Whaley's The positively productive writer.

7. Read 20 new books by the end of the year and 26 books in total.

I have been neglecting my reading lately, especially of new books and authors and I cannot be a good writer if I am not a good reader (or so others say, and you know it kinda makes sense!) so for the end of this year in between the hard slog of the work above, I want to relax with a good book. (26 books mean one a week till the end of the year.)

8. Writing courses:

I would like to be able to go to Simon Whaley's two courses in September and October this year. September is on the 28th and 29th called writing for the magazine market and October is on the 26th and 27th called Destination: travel writer. I still need to book places on both courses, find accommodation and find out if there is public transport going to near the venue as I don't feel like a 4 hour walk from Shrewsbury station (times like this I really wish I could drive a car!) but I really would like to go as I am interested in article writing and feel it best to learn from someone I have heard of and go further afield.

9. Join a writers group and attend once a month

I really want to start taking my writing seriously and it occurred to me I don't know any writers personally (I follow a few blogs) so I would like to join a writers group and go each month till the end of the year.

10.  Keep up with blog posts

I would like to keep up with my blog for the end of 2013, I plan to update at the start of each month my progress on these goals, then I have some ideas for article series on writing the first series will be called back to basics and will focus on the beginnings of writing. Other tile's are: Leveling up; competition success; 101; 1,000 - 100,000; Passions and dreams; 10,000 hours; resilience/rejection. All that should keep me going.

That should certainly be enough to keep me going! I'll update on my progress on the 1st August.

Getting back to it

Yes it has been a pitifully long time since I last posted on this blog, I know, but there is a genuine reason for once. You see at the end of last year, I was hit by a car coming home from work, the car went into my legs, my face then went into the car and then the road. Thankfully I am fine, though I lost my two front teeth, I have had fakes put in, which look real enough though I cannot actually eat on them. I got a large gash across my head from hitting the pavement and various cuts and bruises along my leg and arm. On the upside I got a ride in an ambulance, and a stay in hospital, with lots of short story ideas. On the whole though I would not advise this! It's extremely painful.
I had to postpone my two open university courses for next year, which was a bit of a pain, but I'm alive so I am not complaining to much. Now I am back on my feet it's time to get back on the horse so to speak and get down to some serious writing, I have lots of lost time to make up and I've had lots and lots of downtime to think up ideas for shorts stories, poems, articles and novels. I also have some ideas for this here blog of mine, I plan to post my writing goals in the next week for the end of 2013 and update on my progress at the start of each month. Hopefully this will make me feel accountable, and get my pen moving in the write direction. I have also had some ideas for writing articles series, which I will post more about at the start of next month, which I am hoping you will all enjoy, I plan for the first series to be called "Back to basics", so watch out for that.

Is everyone else still carrying on with their writing? I would love to hear how you are all getting on!

Take care, and look both ways when crossing the street.

Happy writing.

Writing what you know

Week 3: Writing what you know

In week 3 it's all about what you know and how to use your life experience, memories and observations to fill your writer’s notebook and in the end to help craft your stories. To start with is collecting information from your everyday surroundings, looking for things you don't notice or think of as an everyday habit, then thinking about it in a unique way. This can be either places or people that you meet/encounter when you are out. A lot of focus is put on your use of the five senses in writing, describing what you see around you using sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Then lastly 'Raiding you past' trying to remember a specific point in time and writing what comes back to you in a logical sequence - though it is o.k. to invent stuff as well for fiction.

I am still carrying on with daily Haiku, my favourite from week 3 was:

Dark valley, winding
Silent shadows by moonlight
Furry figures creep


I hope you like. I am also enjoying the new technique of trying to fix on a memory and writing what you remember, my best from week 3 was arriving at a beach in my childhood:


I am in a town; loud noises all around; people chatting; the smell of sand and sea; the winds whistles by making my hair fly around, the ground is hot and rough, the sound of boat horns from far away and some close to my right. The taste of ice-cream hits me from a nearby ice-cream van. There is a puppet show just over the road where a man with white hair and a white tee-shirt stands with a tall puppet with black hair and a red jacket. The puppet is almost as tall as the 6 foot man. The hot sun shines off the many cars in the car park, a sea of red, black, silver and blue all looking out over the water or at the large supermarket down the street, Morrison’s I think. The supermarket is brown brick, a light brown with a rough surface, like the waves from the sea next to me. You have to pay a toll for staying in the car park and as my grandma and dad go to pay I lean against the car, close my eyes and try to imagine I am the only person in this car park with just the noise of the sea around me and the smell of ice-cream, sand and sea in my nostrils.

That's it for week 3, I am really enjoying the course so far and feel my writing is improving already. I am busy for the rest of the week so week 4 will most likely be up next Monday.

Till then, happy writing! 

Week 2: Keeping a writer's notebook

Keeping a writer's notebook

 

This week is about keeping a writers notebook (In case you couldn’t tell), not so much the type that’s different for everyone. Me I use a cloth Paperchase notebook which I adore and I keep a shopping list pad with me when I am out and about so I can jot things down quickly.

The rest of this week’s activities are about gathering ideas/info/words for your notebook. From writing down quickly what you observe around you to keeping a diary. Creating contradictive characters to morning papers and writing down your reviews on books you have read. Lastly daily haiku are discussed as well as searching through newspapers and magazines for any ideas. 

The final activity is then about building on the work in your notebook. Having a play around with initial concepts or characters and taking them in different directions before committing to those ideas.

That’s it for week 2, my notebook it building up nicely this week and I have really enjoyed daily haiku and searching through newspapers so I am going to continue using both. Week 3 should be up on Monday.

Till then, happy writing!