A Boost a day ...

I had a bit of a boost today on the writing score, which has left me feeling quite pleased with myself.
I entered a competition at the beginning of the month (which I didn't win, I didn't come anywhere near as it turns out) for which I received some feedback from the judges.  If I'm honest this was one of the main pulls for the competition which only had a £1 entry fee.  I was essentially paying this for comments on my work.  I thought this a bargain as usually it's quite expensive to get a critique done.
Anyway, they pointed out where I was going wrong with my entry, points which I have taken on board, but the main thing that I was chuffed with is that they thought it was well written and they could see my potential.
I was over the moon with this.  I know there are areas that I need to work on, but as my writing grows I see these areas improving.  I'm just glad that the raw materials are there.  I've got the basics down, now I just need to start polishing a bit more.

It's definitely given me a push in the write direction.  I currently have two competitions that I have entered that I may still be considered for but as the advice always says, 'don't dwell, just get on with the next piece'.

So that's what I'm off to do!

Motivation - it's what you need ...

Hi folks,

It's been a little while since I last posted.  I haven't really been feeling in the zone of late, I was full of cold last week and couldn't concentrate on anything.  Coupled with my increasing unhappiness in my job, I really haven't been feeling particularly creative.

Still, I've come out the other side of the germs with a renewed determination to get some work done.  I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the year that I would start taking my writing seriously, and that I would get at least one thing published in the next twelve months.  I have entered a couple of competitions so I've already made some progress.
For some reason I had it in my head that once I'd submitted a story to a competition that story was then useless in terms of submission.  But of course, unless it wins anything, after a certain period I am free to do something else with it.

So, I plan to rework a ghost story I sent off in October and look for somewhere else to send it.  I also sent a love story to a competition earlier this month, which didn't get anywhere, but there is to be some feedback on all entries.  Once I've had this I can rework it and resubmit it as well.

So all in all, I actually have started making gradual process.  Now I have realised this my motivation and confidence has boosted enough for me to pick up and carry on in earnest.

Watch this space, I could be bringing you news of a success at some point in the future.  Fingers crossed!

Until next time,

H xxx

Struggling with Hitchhikers ...

Hello everybodies,

I’ve been making a point since Christmas to do a lot more reading than I had been.  I love reading but with work and family life I never seemed to get much of a chance for it.

I guess it’s one of my New Year’s resolutions to consciously make more of an effort to make the time for reading.  I went onto Goodreads.com and entered my Reading Challenge.  I was amazed at some of the challenges people were setting for themselves.  One person had challenged herself to read over 300 books in one year!  I’ve gone for something a bit more conservative and have aimed for 12 books in a year.  I think this is quite manageable, considering that I will be doing an OU course for nine months. 

So I’ve been doing alright on the reading front and making my way through the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which I didn’t realise is actually five books, or as Douglas Adams calls it ‘a trilogy in five parts’.

I whizzed through the first four books and really enjoyed them but the last one, Mostly Harmless, is proving to be a bit of a struggle.  I haven’t been concentrating on it and don’t quite know what’s happening at the moment.  I put it down for a couple of weeks to read something else, which I finished quite quickly, but now I think I’m going to have to restart Mostly Harmless.  I just need a good hour long stint on it to get myself back into it.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until next time readers,

H xxx