And so...

After all of your kind feedback and support, I sat down and wrote for an hour on Sunday. I timed it on my phone and set an alarm and everything.

Going back to my novel, I found it was actually in pretty good shape. I mean, don't get me wrong, it still needs work, but the skeleton is practically there. Now all it needs is a few large meals and it'll be sorted.

Now I just need to find a way to keep writing. My motivation is back at any rate, and I suppose that's half of the battle.

How to get writing again?

Work has become crazy busy recently, now that I am in charge of organising events full time. I am trying to finish the second draft of Banshee, my WIP, but scheduling time to write is really difficult, especially when my "day job" creeps into evenings and weekends too.

So I've been thinking about ways that I can still work on my project, but without obviously slacking off during the day and getting into trouble at work.

Here are some ideas I've had to get started again:

* Writing for 30 mins - 1 hour before breakfast.
* Pretend conversations in my head between characters, and then scribbling it down or recording it on my phone.
* Staying late after staying late to write a little bit (this is how this blog post has come about!).

What are your suggestions? Do you have a good way of staying focused when life tries to get in the way of your writing?

Top Bum

Over the weekend, I watched Top Gun. Isn't it the most homoerotic film of all time? And Tom Cruise stabbing that woman with his tongue ("kissing"??!!) whilst backlight by blue light - how icky does that look? Don't think I had watched it all the way through since the early nineties, so had never noticed those things before.

Busy time at work coming up, not really looking forward to, but perhaps I can use it to become more focused with my time again. I know I keep saying it, but I really really want to get IV finished.

Finally - urgh, too hot and raining. My hair is now a ball of frizz.

Places to Write

It can be difficult sometimes to fit in writing when you're working full time, or have things like a family, boyfriend, over-dependent gerbil, etc. filling up your time. It is difficult, but it's not impossible. You just need to seize your opportunities when they present themselves.

Work these past couple of weeks has been manic, but train journeys provide the ideal opportunity to write, so long as you get a table and aren't boxed in on either side by businessmen with those giant-sized newspapers that take up all the space. Hotels are great too, because there's nothing else to do except watch Film 4, so you can usually factor in some writing time before Independence Day starts.

Sometimes in order to get anything done, you have to sacrifice a bit of a lie-in, and get up early at the weekend, or stay up late, or give up your lunch break to get something written.

Writing something is better than nothing, regardless of word count or quality! And you can't be a writer if you don't actually write anything!

Couple of pictures. The first is my hotel room in Manchester, where I managed to knock out just over 1,000 words (before and during Independence Day - and you thought I was joking!).

The second is in my horrible room in Portsmouth, where I wrote about 2,000 words after my event.

I'd like to have taken a photo of writing on the train, but I think my fellow commuters would have thought that I was a little bit strange.

I've heard about people (with small kids) locking themselves in the bathroom in order to write, and when I was younger, I used to climb up this tree in my back garden and write stories in my notebook. Anyone else have any favourite/bizarre places that they write?

Waiting

-not for anything exciting, but for my event to start.
I've bought my writing stuff with me today and after this has finished, I'm going to find a quiet spot to do some work. I've broken every deadline I gave myself and inter vivos still isn't finished. They are still stuck in chapter seventeen limbo, and although I know what I need to write, I've been so tired and travelling so much I've not had chance.
Early starts don't agree with me, and two half 4 starts in a row have made me grumpy. Good job I'm on my own today!
Think I'm going to stop by the British Library today if I have time, for inspiration.

Busy!

This is one of those very rare occasions where I'm actually writing this blog post from a desk via blogger's website, rather than from a bus or a train or a hotel room via my BlackBerry. It's actually rather nice. Though saying that, it won't last for long, as next week is crazy busy again (Reading, Lewisham, Stanmore, home) and the week after that crazier still (Stoke, Guildford, London, Northampton). Perhaps this is what book tours are like, in which case I'll be well practiced.

I'm off to write in the library for a bit as soon as I'm done here. I'm feeling quite tired, as I've been at work since half 8 this morning with no break as yet, but I need to stay motivated. Once I've finished this draft, then it's time for the big edit, and after that, I'm half way there. It is tough to try to write, and be a writer, when you've also got a full time job, but I'm doing it as best I can and trying not to waste a second of my time.

Well, aside from the odd blog post ;-)

After Inter Vivos is finished and doing the rounds with friends, I'm planning on finishing off a couple of short stories and sending them out to slush piles around the country, and also I'm planning on making a proper start on my next novel, which I think will be the banshee story. I'd like to squeeze in some drama too somewhere, but haven't really got the time.

Oh! That reminds me, for those of you interested, Script Frenzy, which is the play/film/graphic novel version of NaNoWriMo, begins on 1st April. You have to write 100 pages in a month. Interested? Details here.

Olay works??

Just stopping by on my week off to give you a quick update.

Firstly, I haven't done as much writing as I should have done, but I have done some, which is good. I have finished chapter four (for now) and am now revising chapter five of Inter Vivos, and I have started a new short story, and I've been writing bits of dialogue for a new play. The best thing has been having the time to just ruminate on the world and see what comes from it. I know have a map of my world in Inter Vivos, for example, which I drew whilst I was on hold for British Gas.

Right, secondly, being at home in the daytime is boring. I had really bad cabin fever on Wednesday. I honestly don't know how housewives, etc stay at home all day. The most exciting thing that has happened (writing aside) is that I managed to save my line-drying washing from a sudden outburst of rain.

Oh, and I think my Olay face cream is finally working. The wrinkle on my forehead is looking decidedly smaller. Whoop!

Stress

I am currently stressed about moving house. I have to arrange for the power supply to be switched to the new house, and to inform the council and the water board that I am moving. Plus I have to clean my flat to professional standards so that I can regain my deposit. How does one clean professionally? I mean, is there a course that you have to take? I guess it's all about the tools. Well, I don't have any carpets, so no special equipment needed there. I'm hoping a duster and some Cillit Bang will be enough to keep the landlord happy.
The other thing about the move is that I have to do the majority of my moving on the day when the Caribbean Carnival parades past my house, which means that getting my double bed out and down the road past the revellers is going to be a nightmare. Also it means I may not get to watch and partake in Jerk-everything this year.
I just hope the new house is a) as nice as I remember, b) doesn't fall down as soon as we've moved in, and c) is big enough for all our stuff. I haven't even started packing yet.

Weariness

I am so tired right now, and I'm not really sure why, but I feel properly weary. Maybe because I've not had a holiday all year and have been working long hours, on top of rehearsing, driving and trying to write. I just feel right now like I always need an extra hour of sleep, no matter how much sleep I actually get. Strange, no?

My corrected proofs have been sent back to the Inkermen, so hopefully all that is in order. It was good to read over the story again, as I had forgotten it in the six weeks since I submitted it, so could look at it with fresh eyes. This is obviously the key to editing and rewriting. Wish it was always this successful - have just re-read my new draft of Inter Vivos, and think it's rubbish. Sigh.

Was going to post an extract from my latest short story here, but then realised that it contains the text I submitted for the Waterstone's What's Your Story competition, which I'm not quite sure has ended. Best to be safe than sorry, so I will instead post it here in a couple of weeks time, when I'm sure the competition has finally finished.

More Time Needed!

I've become a bit lazy again, in terms of the writing, and so it's time to kick myself up the arse and get motivated. Because I'm doing this rewrite of the Inter Vivos novel (am terribly embarrassed by how bad the first two chapters are, after putting it away for a while and now re-reading it!), it means that I've had to put other writing projects on hold. So my Tabitha story is on pause at the moment (though it was a nice stop-gap project), and I'm itching to do a rewrite of my Hoodies play, and also a radio edit of both Hoodies and High Street Aphrodite. But no, I need to focus.

The day job is getting more involved, which has meant that I'm working more hours and feeling too exhausted when I get home to do anything other than read or watch TV. I still have my second job too, although I don't work that often any more, so it's not going too badly.

Morph had an idea ages ago for our Semper group to do another night like 'Semper Sumo', only this time independent of LadyFest. It would be great to put on another little showcase, but if Morph ends up putting on his own production in October/November, and what with Mekon deciding he doesn't write anymore, Dec generally being uncontactable, Robin in Scotland and Sabrina 'spawning' (hee hee), then it doesn't look like it'll be happening any time soon.

Though I guess it would just be a distraction anyway, and I need to focus on IV!

A Wednesday Self-Centred Rant...

It's my own fault really for agreeing to be in Jekyll and Hyde. I'm resenting the time it's draining from me already. My hair is getting skanky and I don't have time to wash it (eugh - too much detail!). I'm turning into a fifteen year old greaser all because I'm never at home. My flat is a tip. I have no food in the place, nor any clean cutlery. I won't have time to do a shop until Friday. So I'm annoyed right now. Wouldn't be feeling so peeved if I felt the rehearsals were worthwhile and the chorus was valued in the show. It's not. And all we get to do is sing this one song five times, and do choreographed head movements every two lines in a verse. And be there twice a week. Boring. Next!

I've been reading The Sandman graphic novels (I keep getting told off for calling them 'comics'), and have realised that I have a crush on Morpheus. Is this normal? Probably not!

Inter Vivos is all typed up and ready to go (to be made into a second draft). Need to print it out, but have forgotten my memory stick today so can't do it right now. My printer at home is out of ink, and I can only get a new cartridge from Dell, but they need you to actually physically take the parcel from the postie's hands, which means I can't order one as I'm never at home. Rah!

Hmm, am in a bit of a ranty mood today, and have only just noticed. Good job I don't have to talk to anyone right now, isn't it?!

Tick, Tock, Tick

I'm feeling really frustrated because I want to be a writer, but I don't have anything written! I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but that's just how it is. I've been reflecting on my own writing style and habits, and I've come to the conclusion that my weakness is story. Don't get me wrong, I can get Character A and Character B from X to Y with a few subplots inbetween perfectly well, thank you, but when someone asks me 'What's it about?' I get stumped. I vaguely have a notion of what I would like the story to say on a deeper level, but find it difficult to get my story to reflect that. I know, "practice makes perfect", but noone's getting any younger. I read in this book I got out of the library (can't remember the title right now), that having one child = two books (in terms of time, energy, etc). It was controversal when whoever said it said it, but I can kind of see what they mean - I have friends who have kids and they don't even have time to have a conversation with their husbands, let alone write a manuscript. I really want to get a book published before I have a child. Not that I'm planning on having children in the next few years, but it's something to think about (especially when everyone around me seems to be 'up the duff'). I feel better for ranting now, so hope you'll excuse me!
I've been thinking of radio, and so I emailed Amanda and asked her for her advice, as she's written quite a bit for radio now. She told me that radio is a lot more intimate than theatre, and sent me one of her radio scripts to look through. This is where story comes along, as radio is all about the storytelling. Think I might have a go and adapting Hoodies and High Street Aphrodite for the airwaves.
In terms of Inter Vivos - still not finished. Am thinking that maybe I should just trust my inital feelings and set it in the near-future, rather than in it's own dimension. Should not let people sway me before a) I've finished and b) they've read it.

Decision

Have decided that I'm going to concentrate on my writing, and so am not going to audition for 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'. So there.

Snooze. Snore. Grunt.

I am really tired as I write this, so please excuse any errors, etc. I'm at work, and really thirsty but don't have time to go and make myself a drink - how silly is that? I am out of the office for two days for work (going to the New Forest), so am trying to get all my work done today. But am seriously falling asleep, and not looking forward to going home as I have to take work home with me. Sigh. Yawn. Zzzzzzz.

Anyhow, I finished my Calypso story, more or less - well, I've written to the end by deadline date anyway. Odysseus is causing me problems, so when I'm away I'm going to go back and work on him a little bit more and then hopefully be able to send the finished story out to places on Friday.

Oh, too tired to think properly now. Catch you later.

More Deadlines

Well, I had a think, and decided, as all good girls do, to come up with a schedule of what I want to have written by when. Let's hope all goes according to plan!

Calypso short story - 21st April 2008

Inter Vivos first draft (so close I can almost smell it!) - May 12th 2008

Mouse short story - June 2008

Second draft of Hoodies - June 30th 2008

Tabitha Grubb short story - July 2008

And, obviously, Dorcas Grubb will be written in November 2008, to be completed on 30th November 2008.

Wish me luck then!

I've been doing a bit of writing each day, even if it's just 200 words or so, and I'm feeling better about it (although I'm feeling better about everything - I think it's the vitamins I've started taking, and I don't care what anyone says!).

I'm really close to finishing Inter Vivos, as I've said. Just had to invent three characters to house Nox in the snow, but aside from that little detour it's all going well. Calypso, on the other hand, has me stumped right now, and it's due in at the end of April. I bet it's going to be one of those 'night before' jobbies (see: http://lucyannwade.blogspot.com/2007/05/its-your-fault-guybrush.html!). Still, at least it gets done.

Quickie

Just a quick post as I haven't posted in a while. I have been whizzing about the country for work and also I've been ill, and still am ill, so haven't really felt like writing. Hope you didn't miss me too much!

Inter Vivos still isn't finished, although it isn't far off, which is good. What I have written so far is a big pile of poo though, but I guess that's what rewriting is for!

I'm also working on my Calypso story, and the problem with that at the moment is that there isn't actually any story to it, so I'm going to have to get even more creative with that one.

I am also preparing to audition for the local amateur production of Jekyll and Hyde, though I'm filled with doubts as to whether to go for it or not. Pros - I'll get to be on stage again, I might get a really good part, I'll see all my theatre friends again. Cons - I might get a crap part and resent spending time away from writing, I'll be spending time away from writing, it'll cost me £10.80 per week to do it for 6 months.

Anyway, sorry there's not more news. Will think of something interesting to say next time.

Easter Greetings

Hi y'all. Sorry about the lack of posts recently, but I've been all over the place for work, and since last blogging, I've been to Portsmouth, Reading, Lewisham and Hendon. Am feeling quite knackered. Still haven't recovered from being up for 20 hours after my Hendon trip. Am definitely feeling old at the moment. Also resenting the fact that I've had to come in to work for a few hours on Good Friday whilst everyone else is at home with family, watching High School Musical 2 or eating hot cross buns. Oh well. Sure I'll get over it.

I'm still quite tired, so can't actually think of what to write - this is more of a 'I'm still alive' post I guess. Sorry to be boring. I've read Good Omens since I last blogged, which was good, and I'm currently reading Caitlin Kiernan's Threshold, which I'm really enjoying, though can't read before bedtime as it leaves some pretty vivid images in my mind. Still haven't finished The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters. One day...

IV update: Nox still hasn't left Thaddeus's house, though I'm getting closer to that part. Have been trying to type up what I've been writing whilst I've been away, which is a job and a half. I really pity people who write long-hand all the time - no wonder they work full-time at writing - it must be all that typing up they do! (joke).

Right, am off again now. Will hopefully be able to blog again next Friday, when I will have finished my travels for now.

New Ideas

Right now I am developing a piece (I think as a short story, though it may end up as a dramatic monologue) about Calypso, the goddess from The Odyssey. It details what happened from her perspective when she held Odyseuss prisoner, seven years of 'sexual imprisonment', and then was forced to let him leave by Zeus. She's a little bit 'the woman scorned' but also it examines the double standard that exists even today where men are forgiven their infidelities whereas women are not - it's the whole stud/whore thing really. Well, the starting point of this story is anyway.
*
I am also very tired right now, as this new job is draining. I may have to quit my second job just to have time to get my head together again, though considering I only earned £28 last month, giving up three Saturdays hardly seems worth it.
*
*Picture is from http://www.flickr.com/photos/absolutechic/533955531/ by the way.

Being Lazy

Hi there y'all,

I am in an incredibly lazy mood at the moment, and seem to be stuck in a rut. My house is a complete sty, and I've not written anything for about a week, due I think to being tired and still adjusting to my new job and new routine. In my old job, I could write at lunchtimes, but I've not been able to yet where I am here. I know that's not much of an excuse, but there it is.
I've been up in Blackpool for work, and it was extremely windy and cold, and deserted. I was able to mull on a couple of ideas inspired by my location, but didn't have a lot of free time to execute them.
I am going to try to get motivated again soon. Guess everyone has peaks and troughs, right?
By the way, in case you were wondering, I decided to read The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters and am currently about half way through. 'Tis good so far, though has very long chapters, which isn't a good thing when you want to read a chapter before you go to bed.

Wet!

At the moment, I have wet legs up to my knees thanks to the downpour outside; hard, icy rain that seemed to be impervious to my umbrella. Good old English weather!
I am currently working on rewriting the second chapter of Inter Vivos. It is not going very well. I know what I want to write, but I just don't seem to be very disciplined at the minute. It's the same old story with me, unfortunately. I am too easily distracted, or busy doing other things to give 100% of my time to it. Writing is hard work. Don't let anyone ever tell you any differently!
I haven't written any theatre for ages, and I'm thinking that I should start up again soon, especially if we want to get our Semper Festival project off the ground. I don't want to be distracted though by too many projects, so I think I'm going to just concentrate on IV now, and perhaps have another bash at Hoodies or Red in a couple of months.
Here is a link to a game I saw posted on Neil Gaiman's blog journal: http://www.freerice.com/index.php It improves your vocabulary and helps third world countries all at the same time. I am ashamedly poor at this quiz, though I'm hoping that if I do it every day, I will begin to educate myself (and feed starving folks around the world too!).