Update

I have to be honest and say that my experiment has stalled somewhat due to circumstances that were mainly beyond my control but it is sitting on the back burner and I will get back to it in due course. I have bought the last few issues of WN though in an attempt to see where I'm going wrong there. I have enjoyed some success with them before but nothing for ages so I'm trying to work out what it is that Jill is looking for these days. They were the first magazine to publish me in this country so I have a soft spot for them. The stories that I had published with them were a while ago though, before I spent time writing just non fiction so I need to get in tune with them again I think. Other than that I have a week off work this week which I am looking forward to. I don't expect to get a lot of writing done because Himself is also off work and while we haven't "booked" anywhere I'm sure well be out a lot. NRIMH is surrently sitting at a little over 26,000 words. It is the first draft and is basically just the skeleton of the story which I am probably about half way through telling. Okay, so time to read this weeks stories in WN and I'll keep you up to date with my retuning efforts. Oh and by the way - Go Wiggo, go Wiggo!!! (reference to Bradley Wiggins for those of you that don't follow the Tour de France)

Magazine experiments and other stuff

So in the last 10 days or so since I last checked in I've added about 3,000 words to NRIMH although 1,000 of those were written this morning. I have to say that I am very happy with that because I don't thnk I have ever had such a productive morning in terms of written words. However I have decided to give the magazine experiment that I have seen a few people do before a try. You know the one, it's where you target a magazine every week or every fortnight and try to get something published in it. Hopefully it will focus my mind. The magazin de jour as it were is Take a Break and given that I have never had a sniff of an acceptance from Norah I think I'd better try the letter page.

Getting to know them again.

I've spent the last hour reading through the 19k words that I already have down on NRIMH, reacquainting myself with all of the subsiduary characters and who is connected to whom. I discovered that I'm rooting for S, that I actually feel sorry for J and that H's son started of being called James but became Peter a bit later. I settled on James. Let the new words roll.

Coping with the disappointment

So I heard back about three of the short stories I'd submitted. That would be "no, no and no again." Luckily for me they were all in the same email so at least I didn't have to read three seperate ones and when you're looking for silver linings in clouds then that's the best that I can do. Also I'd submitted BTL to an agent and they decided this week that they weren't in love with that either. Luckily for me I have a part of my brain that I can stick all the things that I don't want to dwell on in and I close the door and forget about them. This is an actual fact, well its not an actual room with a door obviously, but I am able to forget about things that I don't want to remember and this allows me to get over disappointment very quickly. I think it may be the silver lining attached to the cloud that was a road accident, partial paralysis and a stroke when I was 6 years old. Oh and please don't feel sorry for me because I don't remember any of that at all - seriously can't recall it. However getting back to my disappointing week, that's all the bad news. The good news (putting positive head on) is that I still have the Nice project, a couple (might be one) of short stories and a non fiction piece out there. Also I am very excited about my next big project "NRIMH." Some of you may remember those letters as it is a project that I started a couple of years ago but for reasons that I won't go into I decided that it would be best to stop. Well the time seems right now to carry on so that's what I am going to do.

Waiting game

Still no news about any of the things that I have out there. Don't you just hate the waiting? I do but what can you do - it's all part of the game. I'm at a bit of a loose end on the big project front. My "Nice" project is finished and out there so what do I do next? Well there are a couple of large bits in the WIP folder but I'm not sure which of those grabs me so to speak so maybe I'll have to come up with a new one. NO NO NO!!! For God's sake stop procrastinating woman and get on with it. They are all perfectly decent ideas that just need developing which they won't do on their own. Okay,that's the personal pep talk, rant, call it what you will over. I also have a short story that I have just finished which needs polishing and sending off and then I guess the waiting game will begin with that one too. This is an extra day off work for me and I have been forbidden from ironing, window cleaning etc so maybe its time to get my head down and do something creative.

This week

I haven't done a lot of writing if I'm honest this week mainly due to the fact that a) my mind has been on other things and b) due to "a)" I haven't got a lot of sleep and after going to work and all the other stuff that I have to do there's been no energy left for anything else. To cut a long story short my dad has been ill on and off for a few weeks but seemed to be getting better then on Tuesday he took a turn for the worse and ended up in hospital. It doesn't help when you live a hundred and odd miles away so you do your fretting from a distance. Anyway, crossing fingers and touching wood, it looks like he is on the mend and hopefully will be home in the next day or two. Another hopefully is that I will be able to see him this week as long as Mum thinks he is up to it. I don't want a random visit from me making him think that he is worse than he is. Anyway that's the reason behind the lack of writing but it has got me thinking about if there is something that you want to do you should do your darndest to do it because life is fragile and you don't know how long it will last. So with that in mind I am going to try and focus on attaining at least a modicum of success from this writing game. I know that I may never achieve the level of success that I aspired to when I was a chit of a girl who knew nothing about life but I don't want to die thinking that I didn't give it a try. So with that in mind I submitted an article today. Yeah I did say article not story but its a piece of writing at the end of the day. I had a bit of disappointing writing news the other day when I heard back from Jill at WN with a "thanks but no thanks" response to a story that I submitted in October but I took it on the chin becasue it goes with the territory. I have six more things out there at the moment so maybe I'll have better luck with one of them.

What I have done so far.

In my bid to get the ball rolling on the enthusiasm front I queried an editor about something I found in the bag only to get a reply saying that they were no longer in business so that was a none starter though I did appreciate them letting me know. Also I pitched an idea to an editor but I haven't heard back from them yet. I've also started editing some of the old stuff and one of them (maybe 2) are going to be winging there way into the world shortly. On a totally different note maybe someone can inspire me in my real life. I'll let you into a secret, I am not a huge fan of breakfast because cereal, toast etc are as dull as dishwater and if I'm honest a sandwich at lunchtime doesn't do it for me either. I mean I have had some lovely breakfasts sandwiches but generally they bore me. So what I would like to know is any ideas that anyone might have to tempt my taste buds. Okay so that was a bit random but hey ho.

What I found in the bag.

Oh I REALLY don't like this new blogger. Anyway, I have spent the last hour or so going through the said "bag" and put things into piles, some for now and some for later. I made a list of wesites etc that I had noted and I am going to look them up and work out what I was hoping to get from them. Then there is a pile of some other things that I want to start working on asap and lastly there are the things that have gone back into the bag for future reference. Things that I found that I feel are worth a mention are 1. A character that I would love to develop into a series of stories. She is too big for just one but I'm not sure what sort of outlet there would be for such a series. I'll try to get one story written and worry about the rest later. 2. Something that I wrote the day after my last dog died which made me cry. 3. An outline for a screenplay that when I started to read I could see playing out in pictures infront of me. 4. An idea that I wrote down that if developed properly would make a great tear jerker. 5. A few non fiction ideas that might be worth exploring. And this just came from that one bag. What about my drawers? What about the notebooks that are dotted around all over the house? I used to be so inspired. I used to be so enthusiastic. I wish that I could get some of that enthusiasm back because if I'm being honest I probably have been going through the motions recently.

What to do today

Something totally unrelated to writing caused me to rummage through my "wip" drawers a moment or two ago and while I was doing that I spied my "wip" bag. This is an old briefcase jam packed full of bits of paper and books etc that have ideas and partial stories etc written on them - you know that type of stuff because you may have one of your own. Anyway in a bid to get my short story juices flowing my "to do today" list consists of going through that bag. Could be a long day so I'd better get a cuppa before I start. Watch this space/

There was the sun.

Since I was last here, I am happy to report that the rain has abated and there is a strange golden orb in the sky which, if memory serves me correctly we call the sun. Oh hang on a minute - it's gone again - maybe I imagined it. On a different note I am still waiting for a reply to any of the sumissions that I sent out recently and some of them date back to last October so I would have hoped to have heard about them before now. Maybe no news is good news though so I will just hang on and hope for the best. I need to write some short fiction. It is a very long time since I wrote anything new in that respect and I'm feeling the need to do it but lacking the inspiration at the moment. I've spent the last few months on a longer project so the short stuff has been neglected and to be honest I am feeling nervous at the prospect of trying to do it again. If I am being honest it has to be soemthing like 18 months maybe even a bit longer since I wrote any new short fiction so I hope I haven't forgotten how to do it. I'll let you know how I get on.

Not a lot

I am such a bad blogger - but I don't need to tell you that because most of you know that alreday. It's not that I've deliberately not posted,it's just that I haven't really had anything to say. What have I been up to? Well I sent off the first three chapters of my Nice project one day last week so the long wait for a reply has started. They say not to expect anything for six months so it could be a long wait. I've given up on the stories that I sent to TLFF because the six months are up but I am still hanging onto the theory that no news is good news from WN. Other than that, not a lot, well nothing has happened. I had a week off work last week and spent the time enjoying morning lay ins, afternoon walks with the dog and nothing very strenuous in between. I went back to work on Monday with batteries fully recharged but it has been non stop catching up and H&S courses since then so I have had no time to write until now - and I'm blogging so maybe I'm a bad writer too. Don't know about the rest of you but this rain is getting on my wick. Three days solid now and still it shows no sign of letting up. Maybe I should switch the computer off and try to round up some wood incase I need to start building an ark.

Preparing for the "big" day

So here we are in another financial year and I think that it is safe to say that the exchequor will not be overflowing from the tax they get from what I earned in the last one. Having said that, anything that I owe I will pay which gives me the moral high ground over some of the better paid in our society who weasle out of paying what they should. Having said that they may well take pity on me and tell me not to bother. Okay so they won't - but they should. The few people that know that I write are amazed that I declare it and pay tax on it but as I tell them it is all in preparation for the day that I make it big.

Nice Project update and other stuff

I have finally accepted that the Nice project is highly unlikely to be finished by the deadline that I set myself which was the best part of four months longer than the original one.
The first draft is finished, in as much as the basic story is told but I needed to add around 19,000 words to get it to the length that it needs to be. You may remember that I intended to find those by developing characters and adding a couple of situations and while that is still the case, progress is proving to be slower than I anticipated. I have just taken a current word count and I still need to find just shy of 16,000 words for it to reach the publishers required length.
I'm not giving up on it though because I think that it has potential and is not that bad for a first attempt at a new genre.
On a different note I am still waiting to hear back about any of the short stories that I have submitted recently and yes I know it goes with the territory but it is a little disheartening all the same. I did however sell a short non fiction piece this week - well more of a filler really - just 250 words but at the end of the day a sale is a sale.

Progress or lack thereof

Well the Nice project is not coming along as quickly as I had hoped that it would mainly due to life getting in the way of dreams as it does on a regular basis. However I did have a pleasantly productive morning this morning which moved it on 600 words or so in the hour that I could give over to it. I think that it may move along quicker the further that I get into it because at the moment I am at the scene setting stage and that was pretty much done anyway so didn't need much tweaking but when we get to the nitty gritty as it were it will be a different kettle of fish entirely (hopefully.) Anyway an hour was all that I could give it at the moment so I'll have to be happy with that. As often happens on a day off the kitchen is calling me and I can feel quiche and a lemon drizzl cake coming on. Maybe even some cookies or shortbreads too.
On a different note, I still haven't heard back about any of the stories that I have sent out and as some of you know they were the first that I had sent out in a while so I just wondered what waiting times were like for various magazines these days. I've had several out since October and while 6 months used to be pretty standard some were sent to magazines that always replied quicker than that.
Anyway better go because I've just remembered the pile of ironing that needs to be fitted in.

Nothing SMART yet

No abjectives set yet but I am settling back into the real world. The day job was okay while I was away from it but there were a couple of, how shall I put this, slight hiccoughs bordering on monumental disasters that I had to take care of when I got back. But disaster was averted and all is well with the world now. I haven't felt the need to tell my boss what happened - working on the assumption that what he doesn't know won't hurt him, it seemed like the best course to take.
Then yesterday I attended the final day of a course that was assessing my management style. Apparently I my personality is an emotional introvert and my management style is ISNF or some such combination. Basically I care about people and think about how my decisions will impact on them. Also I like to think about a problem and make a plan of how to tackle it. The world will be a better place for knowing that I am sure.
I started what is essentially the second draft of my Nice project on Monday and so far have tackled a measly nine and a bit pages which have increased about 450 words to the wordcount but have added information about the MC, who, now I come to think about it is probably a bit of an emotional introvert herself.
Must get on with those objectives though because at the minute I am putting all of my eggs in one basket and that has come back to bite me on the backside before.

Transition to the real world

Well its back to the day job tomorrow after what my friend David refers to as "that bowl of cherries called paid liesure time," i.e. a week off work. I have to be honest and say that right at this moment the prospect is not filling me with glee but then I remind myself that there are millions of people out there who would like to be in my shoes so I've told myself to "shut up whinging and get on with it."
I will also take up the pink pen again tomorrow. I have had a week of rest from that too and if I'm still on that honesty thing, I haven't missed that too much either. I have just reeeaallly enjoyed a week off.
Tomorrow though, it will be back to the real world with a vengeance.
The day job will take care of itself and will depend a lot on what has happenend during the last week when I haven't been there. The transition back will be good or bad depending on what I find in the morning and as I won't know that 'til then there's not a lot of point worrying about it. As for writing, I will take a new look through rested eyes at my Nice project with the intention of developing some of the characters and ironing out some creases. At some point today I also want to come up with a list of SMART abjectives for my writing so there will/may be more on that later.
In the meantime there are 30 pages of "Jane Ryre" left to read.

Reminicences and other random thoughts

I've just read through the very first short story that I ever received payment for. Don't know what made me do it because I haven't looked at it since it was accepted back in 2006. That one was published in TLFF and not long after I had another two accepted by different magazines in quick succession I thought I'd made it. I wasn't a best selling novelist but I was onto something. Oh poor dillusional me. If only it were that easy.
I had 7 stories accepted in 2007, but only 3 in 2008. The following year was a bit better at 6 and then in 2010 I concentrated on non fiction though I did have a couple of stories accepted early in the year. And of course between these modest acceptances there were a mountain of rejections. There wasn't a single fiction acceptance in 2011 but there wasn't a submisson either until October and as you are probably aware, I am still waiting to hear back about those.
Don't know what made me look back at the first but I am feeling a nit nostalgic. I remember how happy I was when it was a) accepted, b) I received the payment and c) I saw it in print. I may even look for the magazine later because it is sure to be somewhere. The copy of MW containing the first travel article I was commissioned to write is still sitting on a chair in the kitchen - I was so proud of that one.
But 2012 has to be a year for looking forward. As Himself happened to say the other day apropo of nothing here,"It's never too late until they're nailing down the coffin." so there's still time for me to achieve whatever it is that I am trying to achieve from this writing lark.
I submitted a short story today - the first of 2012.

Early morning reflections

I woke up early and decided to come downstairs and have some quiet time reflecting on stuff. Well no, I intended answering a couple of emails but somehow ended up reflecting.
Its now 4 months since I started to submit fiction again and to be honest I haven't done much of it. I sent off 6 things back in the middle of October and nothing since. I haven't heard back about any of the pieces that I sent off but they do say that no news is good news. Not so in this case though methinks.
So not a very auspicious restart to my fiction "career."
Must try harder.
Must also try and go back to sleep for an hour or so or I'll be no use to anyone later.

Not much

I haven't written for a week and don't plan on much for another 10 days or so which is when I will revisit the Nice project and start the second draft. Himself has been off work for the past week which has eaten into the time that I would normally write (not that I'm complaining) and we are both off next week so I can't see myself doing much. Anyway that will have given me enough time away from the Nice thing so that I come at it with a fresh approach and as it is my work of choice at the moment, that is the one that I want to concentrate on.
Number One Son is coming for a visit tonight which will be good. We don't see him a lot so I am very much looking forward to that.
Other than that, not a lot happening here. It's been bloomin' cold but at least it seems a bit warmer today but wetter. Can't have everything eh?

This and that

So the first draft of the Nice project is finished. Its still very raw and needs a lot more work before I even contemplate doing anything with it but as first drafts go its okay I suppose. There is planty of room for growth in some departments though so something to work on.
On a different note, something has been niggling away at me for months. Its to do with a situation at my last job that I thought I had got over but clearly not as it still niggles so I have sent an email to someone in authority and right or wrong its done so maybe I can put it behind me now.
I have absoloutly no idea where this morning has gone. I sat at the laptop at 10.10 am and planned on getting the last bit of the Nice project down and I've done that, I also finished the "email" that has now been sent, I've looked at a few blogs that i follow and now I'm here and the morning has just about gone. Yet I have so much more to do before 2pm when its time to walk the dog. They all revolve around the kitchen and the cooker so maybe I should turn this thing off and get on with it.