NaPoWriMo Day 1

I had no idea what to write for the first day of the NaPoWriMo challenge. Luckily, they post an optional prompt for each day on their website so I had a look at that. Today’s prompt was to write a LUNE.

It’s a three line poem with

                              five syllables in the first line

                              three in the second

                              and five in the last line

or you can use five, three and five whole words instead of syllables.

I tried the word version first:

                             Write a lune they said

                             so I did 

                             but is it a poem?

(My answer was ‘No!’)

After much pondering and editing I came up with this one counting the syllables:

                             In soft lunar light

                             courting loons

                             sing sweet lunes of love.

And then I tried both forms using the same idea:

          (words)   April the artist splashes pink

                                and white blossom

                                all over her brightest greens.

      (syllables)   April paints pink and

                                white blossom

                                on her brightest green.

Not happy with any of them, but it’s a start!

 

Strange times

A conversation I had yesterday:

‘Must remember to alter the clocks tonight.’

‘Ah yes, forwards or backwards?’

‘Forward one hour.’

‘So if I go to bed at eleven, I’ll have to change my bedside clock to twelve.’

‘You don’t have to. It doesn't officially change until two in the morning. But if you don’t, and forget to do it when you wake up, you’ll be an hour behind everyone else tomorrow.’

‘So that means I’ll lose an hour of sleep tonight.’

‘Unless you go to bed at ten.’

‘Good idea. If I go to bed at ten, change the clock to eleven, set the alarm for eight, when it rings it will really only be seven o’ clock. That means I’ll gain an extra hour.’

‘That can’t be right.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because, um, …’

We’ve been changing the clocks twice a year for as long as I can remember, so why does it still seem so complicated?!

Happy Easter

 whatever time it is where you are.

The real life benefits of made-up stories

It seems to me that there are two sorts of people: those who ‘get’ fiction, and those who don’t. While some of us see nothing strange in becoming totally involved with a fictional character who only lives in a novel, play or film, there are others who look on with puzzled frowns.

‘But it’s not real,’ they say. ‘There’s no such place, no such person. Why waste your time on something that’s pure make-believe?’

Here’s one of my reasons …

I was dreading going to the dentist. Over the years, I’ve had enough traumatic experiences connected with my teeth and dentists to fill a non-fiction book, one of those depressing misery memoirs. But, once again, I had a dental problem and knew I'd have to be brave if I wanted to solve it. Delaying a visit would only make matters worse.

My appointment wasn’t until the afternoon so, instead of worrying about it all morning, I tried to distract myself by working on my latest short story. I managed to write a few paragraphs, but the words weren’t flowing and I soon ground to a halt. I knew what had to happen next in the story but I couldn’t find the right way to explain it. After several attempts, I gave up.

In the dentist’s chair, I relaxed physically as much as I could while trying to convince myself that the ordeal would soon be over. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and – there it was! The next sentence in my story. It was perfect. It moved the story on quickly and clearly, exactly as I’d wanted. I ‘wrote’ the next sentence, and the next, repeating them over and over to myself so I wouldn’t forget them. (Yes, I did have a notebook in my bag but I didn’t think the dentist would appreciate me stopping his work so I could get on with mine.)

I can’t truthfully say I was oblivious to what was happening in my mouth, but having something more important to concentrate on certainly lessened the anxiety. I was almost sorry when the treatment was over. Another two minutes and I’d have been writing THE END.

As soon as I was back in the real world of course, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!

Do you have any practical uses for fiction?

 

If the name fits

Most of my fictional characters are born with their names firmly attached. As soon as I have a sense of their personality, and a rough idea of age, appearance and occupation, I don’t usually have to think too hard to find a suitable name.

But, every now and then, I try out a whole list of names and end up rejecting them all. This has just happened in a new story that I’m hoping will be included in the collection I’m writing for Alfie Dog Fiction.

The character in question is a criminal who uses a false name, but his own name is revealed at the end of the story. The false name was easy enough to choose, but I couldn’t decide on his real name.

Hm, let me think. He’s up to no good, but he’s also clever and rather charming ...

Ah, yes, that reminds me of another lovable rogue.

I’ve borrowed his name; it fits perfectly.

(And if your name is Rufus – or you know a Rufus – please don’t sue me for libel. I’m not writing about you. Honest!) 

 

No more rejections?

During a decluttering session last week, I came across these cartoons that I drew way back in 1990 for the long-departed Writers’ Monthly magazine.

It occurred to me that they just wouldn’t work today because writers no longer collect piles of rejection slips – at least, not the paper ones.

Our books, stories and articles are still turned down by editors and publishers of course, but the bad news is more likely to be delivered by email than Royal Mail. Many smaller publishers, online magazines and websites don’t even bother to send any kind of rejection. They simply say that if they don’t contact you within 'x' number of weeks or months you can assume your submission has been unsuccessful.

There are some writing traditions I’m glad to have left behind – typewriters for example – but I wish now that I’d kept all my old rejection slips. I did have a cardboard folder full of them at one time. I tried to see them as a record of my progress rather than proof of failure.

For example, my first rejection from one magazine was an unsigned, Xeroxed slip of paper. The next one was the same, but with the addition of someone’s scribbled initials. My third or fourth was signed on behalf of the editor, and then - oh, joy! - I received one not only signed in person by the editor, but with a handwritten sentence added saying something like my story was nicely written but not quite good enough. It was still a flat rejection, but knowing that my work had at last reached as far as the editor’s desk made me even more determined to keep trying.

These days, I do keep ‘encouraging’ rejections for a while – those where someone has taken the time and trouble to explain the reason for rejection – but a standard ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ email is usually deleted straight away.

How about you? Do you keep your rejections? Do they depress you, or spur you on?      

 

PS  I’ve just noticed some other things that make these cartoons quaintly old-fashioned. Visits in person to the tax office are almost unheard of now, and the amount I spend on postage in the course of a year’s writing is hardly worth claiming as a business expense.

PPS  As useful as rejection slips can be, an acceptance is always better. Very pleased to report that the first few stories I’ve submitted to Alfie Dog Fiction for my story collection have not been rejected!

How many blog posts does it take to make a book?

When I reviewed my 2015 goal list I gave myself a little pat on the back. I hadn’t managed to achieve all my targets, but some unexpected successes more than made up for the failures.

But one statistic flummoxed me. I’d signed up to the Goodreads reading challenge and pledged to read 12 books over the year. I was certain I could get through one book a month, and secretly expected to read a lot more. And my grand total?

Only four books? That had to be a mistake. I checked the notebook I use as a reading record and decided I must have forgotten to enter some of my read books. I checked my bookshelves. They were crammed with books I’d read, but my notebook confirmed I’d read all but four in previous years. I remembered giving a bag of books to a charity shop. What were their titles? When had I read them?

It didn’t make sense. I’m reading all the time. Only that morning I’d read a couple of stories in Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special and …

Of course! I’d only counted fiction I’d read in book form. I hadn’t included any non-fiction, individual short stories I’d found in magazines and online, books I’d dipped into but hadn’t read from cover to cover, not to mention all those interesting articles in newspapers and on websites. And as for blogs …! How many thousands, millions, of words had I read on blogs? I’m sure if I’d added them all up they’d be the equivalent of reading War and Peace – at least!

I’ve signed up to the 2016 reading challenge, and have again chosen the modest target of twelve books, but I won’t be surprised or disappointed if I don’t make it. There are just too many reading distractions out there!

Here are two books (both Christmas presents) that I doubt I’ll get through by the end of the year. The last Writers’ & Artists’Yearbook I bought for myself was the 2012 edition, so I’ll be reading the new articles in this year’s edition very carefully, but the listings of publishers, agents, magazines etc. will be dipped into as and when I need them.

The other book, Photocrafty by Sue Venables, offers hours of distracting fun with suggestions for 75 photography projects. Can’t wait to get started on some of them. (Except I’m supposed to be writing – and reading!)      

Have you given yourself any reading challenges this year?

Here we go again

Every day is the first day of the rest of your life. Any day could be the day when everything changes. Any day might be the one on which a new idea, an unexpected opportunity or a chance meeting makes your dreams come true.

So why is the first day of January extra special?

For me, it’s the day when I look back over the previous year, remind myself of the good things that happened, and decide that the not-so-good things were really only minor disappointments and problems that can now be forgotten. It’s the day I stop feeling I’ve failed because I haven’t ticked off every item on my to-do list. I take great pleasure in ripping it up and writing a smaller, more manageable one. It’s the day I open up my new diary and flick through all those lovely, blank pages.

In 2016 there are 366 days of new possibilities!

Ready, steady, go!

Happy New Year!