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

Is it me or is it them?

Good morning everybodies!

I just have a little rant I need to get off my chest.  I was driving to work this morning on my normal route which takes me past the hospital.  As I head towards work one lane turns into two as I approach some traffic lights, where I eventually turn left.

I was approaching the lights today and had my signal on to indicate my intentions when the person in front of me also signalled left but was pulling over at the side of the road.  I found this quite irritating and so proceeded to go around them, and then felt bad when an ambulance came past with its lights flashing.

In hindsight though I really don’t know why the car in front pulled over, it was a two-lane road and there was nothing in the right hand lane.  If anything it could have caused an accident as it was unclear for her reasoning.

I am not completely clear of fault as I didn’t see the ambulance coming and just pulled round but the other car is not totally clear I feel.

Anyway, just had to get that out of my system so I can proceed with my day with a clear head.

Has anyone else had similar annoyances on the road?  Answers on a postcard!

Until next time,

H xxx

Progress ...

So, again my scheduled blog is a day late but I'm keeping on track with it. There was a couple of times in the week that I thought about posting something and I wish I had done now. I really want my blog to flow naturally and reflect my thinking at the time. By having a scheduled time to do it makes for a rather stilted entry.

I've had a good week writing wise. I've been writing in my notebook every day with at least 600 words at a time. I've been doing this since the last week in December and having just had a quick flick through I can't quite believe how much I've written down. It's not in any workable format at the moment, more a fountain of ideas which I can delve into now and again when I feel less inspirational.

I'm nearly ready to submit the short story I've been working on, although I think it'll be going to a different one than intended. I have found a different competition with less of an entry fee and all entries receive feedback on their submission. I haven't had much feedback at all on my work yet, the main reason for that being that I don't actually show anybody, so I thought it would be a good opportunity.

Incidentally, I have been considering posting stories or extracts of my work on this blog and would certainly welcome any feedback that you lovely readers would care to offer. Once I've settled more into my writing routine I might make it a regular thing. I will keep you posted.

Until next time,

H xxx

So far, so good ...

Hi folks,

So my weekly blog is a day late this week but this weekend seemed so busy. Ask me what I did though and I probably couldn't tell you. I didn't do any writing whatsoever on Saturday and that felt really quite strange.

I am really quite pleased, I managed to get up at 6am each day last week and write my morning pages before doing anything else. I've found this quite useful to gather my thoughts and get something written down.

I also managed the first draft of a story I'm hoping to submit to a competition at the end of the month. I sat down and wrote about 1500 words in one sitting. I've put it away for a few days and will start tweaking it a bit later today. It's such a good feeling to be on the way to finishing something. This is key for one of my goals for 2012. I hope I can continue it.

As for my weekly word count I have achieved:

Sunday – 1109

Monday – 2181

Tuesday – 679

Wednesday – 615

Thursday – 608

Friday – 1130

Saturday – 0

That's a total of 6322 for the week.

I have another goal to add to my list, and I hope this is not going to tip things over in terms of what I can manage. I was reading in my Writers Magazine that to write the first draft of a novel as little as 500 words a day would be enough to finish it in about 6 months. I don't know if this is a touch too ambitious but I'm going to give it a go and see how far I get. At this point in time I'm looking at my writing very much as a hobby and not putting too much pressure on myself. I'm just going to ease myself into it.

Until next time,

H xxx

A New Year, A New Perspective!

Hi folks!

First of all I would like to wish everyone a very happy new year and I hope that Christmas was enjoyed by all!

It has been quite a few weeks since my last post for which I send my apologies.  The back end of last year saw my attentions focussed elsewhere which left no room for my creative side.
I am glad to say though that I am now back, with a renewed fire inside to get on with my writing.  This year is going to be one of positivity and achievement. 
It is the year that I will be published.  The time that I have had off work over Christmas has really given me a chance to get myself into the right frame of mind to achieve what I want to.

Awhile ago I read a blog post that gave me the gentle nudge I needed to focus my goals into smaller steps.  It is such a simple idea but a valuable one.  To take a look for yourself just follow this link - http://mirrormaskfiction.com/2011/12/02/a-look-back-retrospective-on-2011s-challenge/

My own goals for 2012:

* Write one short story every two weeks
* Submit to one writing competition each month
* Regularly write 3000 words each week

I will officially be starting work on these goals on 1st January 2012 but so far this week I have already written over 1500 words, which is definitely a good start.

I aim to update this blog each week with my word count as well as progress on my projects.  I want to use this blog as an account for myself as well as for you lovely people who give their time to follow a fellow writer.  Your support is greatly appreciated!

Until next time,

H xxx