Posts

Showing posts from November, 2010

30 Plays in 30 Days

As you know, I'm currently in the middle of National Novel Writing Month in an attempt to write 50,000 words over the thirty days of November. However, I was sorely tempted to join B L Goss in her attempt to write 30 plays in 30 days. This is her final project on her Major American Authors course, running from 15th November (today) to 15th December. She will be posting each play on her blog daily and she invites other writers to join her. Read her full article here .

Photo Inspiration

Image
As the nights draw in and the weather turns rainy, I thought I'd bring you a little summer photographic inspiration this time.

A Literary Treasure

Image
Image via Wikipedia When I fired up my computer today and opened a browser, I was met with the latest Google image - pirates, sailing boats and treasure. Puzzled, I investigated further and discovered that on this day, one hundred and sixty years ago, Robert Louis Stevenson was born. I've always associated him with the novels Treasure Island and Kidnapped and of course the films of these novels. What I didn't realise until today was how extensive his writing talents were. He was not only a novelist (also penning The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde among other novels) but an essayist, a writer of short stories and a poet. Born in Edinburgh, his life would take him to London, Europe, the USA and further still. He finally settled in Upolu, one of the Samoan islands where he died at the age of 44. His was a life lived richly and extensively. It's no wonder that his novels were so numerous and so varied.

I must, I must...

I must improve my NaNoWriMo wordcount. During week one of National Novel Writing Month, I carved myself a regular writing slot. Once the children had been delivered to school and my husband to work, I would sit at the computer with a coffee and write for a couple of hours. I was not only achieving the suggested daily word count of 1,667 but bettering it. For the first time in the history of my NaNoWriMo attempts, I was ahead. Week Two is notorious for being the week when most of the lunatics, I mean contestants of NaNoWriMo falter in their attempts and gnaw through more than one pencil (not sure if that metaphor works for keyboards...). I was ahead though, hair flying in the sweet breeze of success. I laughed at the thought of anything going wrong with my progress just because we'd hit the second week of our challenge. On Monday morning, I found a rash on my daughter's neck and my son had a fever. The doctor was called and my daughter was diagnosed with an unidentified v

Bonfire Night

Image
Image via Wikipedia Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot. My husband and I were trying to remember this poem today in the car. Like Christmas Day, in our household Bonfire Night is all about our children. Our plan tonight is to wrap everyone up warm and head out to a local castle for a bonfire and firework display, unless we get the torrential rain that the weather people say is heading our way. In that case, it'll be fireworks at home tomorrow night. However you celebrate Bonfire Night, have the best of times and stay safe.

When is your writing slot?

When are you at your most productive during the day or night? For me, it's when I've just arrived back from the morning school run. My creative mind tends to start turning over on the drive home and by the time I sit at the computer, I already have the details of what I'll write next. This slot has worked out well for my NaNoWriMo adventure this year, giving me a chance to write my November novel undisturbed and when my brain is energised. Today, however, my routine was thrown. I had offered to help out at my daughter's school in the morning. Then I had to buy some replacement school uniform (my children keep growing). By the time I got home, it was almost noon. My muse was on her lunch break. I managed about 400 words before other duties called. Tonight, I decided to push on and upped my daily word count by another 2,000 words but it was hard work. I was tired, my children were noisily settling for the night and I felt bad neglecting my husband so my writing stoppe

And we're off!

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) begins today. I mentioned this in October and ever since then I have been putting together a chapter plan for a quirky, dimension travelling, fantasy novel. Then three days before the month began, I changed my mind about which novel to write and started all over again with a different story idea. Am I mad? Probably but then I think, to an extent, most NaNoWriMers are a little mad. Why else would we throw ourself into the lion's pit, battling through a monthly wordage of 50,000? That's 1,667 words per day. I started as I always do in my NaNoWriMo onslaught (this will be my fourth year) with blind enthusiasm and a childlike rush of excitement. With my chapter plan (well, what I could manage to put together in three days - fourteen chapters) beside me, I managed to achieve 2,467 words today. I'm quite impressed with such a good start but the challenge will be to keep the momentum going. Wish me luck.