Good writing night.

I had writers bloc again yesterday. So about 9.00 I decided to give up on it, and went out to visit friends for an hour. I had a houseful of teenagers, all doing a fitness video in the frontroom. Stampede of elephants spring to mind. So I escaped. My friend's doing an Art A level and we both discuss how we are doing, where we find inspiration etc. She had a meeting on Monday to show her work so far, so after a cuppa, she got out a picture she needed to reproduce, and started drawing. There was a few of us there, and as Em's always being creative this was natural. When I was doing my beady hangings, I would also carry on when friends visited.
With writing however it's not so easy to carry on and entertain. I finished my tea and got back about 10.30, almost time for bed, if It wasn't for the fact I was completely knackered earlier on, and had a nap. So thinking of Em, I got out the laptop, and started work on my piece.
We had to write a short piece of fiction, which experimented with time and/or order. I had spent all day staring at the laptop, trying to come up with ideas, and when I got back from Em's the ideas flowed. I finished writing at 2.00 in the morning, feeling satisfied with my piece. For probably the first time ever at one of my daughters sleepovers, they were asleep before me.
This morning, I had to cut down the words, I had written 1000 words and it was meant to be 500 to 700. So it was a tad too long. Although I was pleased with it, it's a bit like a mum being pleased with a child who is actually really badly behaved. So I emailed it to a friend for a second opinion. I got an answer phone message from her, being a sad case I may have to keep on the phone. She loved it, loved the narration, and felt the jump around of time worked well.
I also checked out www.bloc-online.com which is a website about writing, run by the postgraduate professional writing students. It's well worth a visit if your interested in writing. It's the first edition since it's been handed over to this years students, and I have a piece on there. It was a piece I wasn't too sure about. The subject was hope, and I wrote about my personal journey over the past few years. It's always difficult to expose yourself in that way, but I'm proud of the piece, and what everyone has achieved on the website
It's been a good day.
The photos are of my beady hangings I talked about earlier.

A good tip for getting to sleep

I did a most unusual thing wednesday night. I decided to make time to read a book (not that thats unusual). I do read a lot of books, but with the work involved on this course, I haven't had time to. I've kept up with newsapapers, read other people's stories, and read coursebooks, including Wuthering Heights. I have missed picking up a book to read last thing at night.
What was unusual about last night, was I picked up a new book at 7.00 and was asleep by 8.00. I slept right through till my alarm went off in the morning. It wasn't that it was a boring book, it was Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, which I got into right away. I had read some of it in one of my classes, and as I had brought it in the summer, I knew it was the next book I would read. We were being introduced to characters, and you felt like you really got the essence of what they were about.
I was enjoying it, but I still fell asleep. I suppose tiredness catches up sometimes. Your body tells you when you need to shut down. Sometimes, reading a few chapters of a book does help me sleep, but normally I find they keep me awake. I can be really tired, get a book out, and it wakes me up. I get to the end of each chapter, then just have to read on to see what happens next. I am a very fussy reader, if a book doesn't grab me in that way I give up on it, after giving it few chapters chance. There are enough good books around not to have to read on if a book doesn't do it for you.
Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to read Catcher in the Rye, without falling asleep next time.

Keeping up with the work

This course is definitely a brilliant preparation for any writer, however I am finding it a struggle to keep up. Tomorrow we are starting to make our own website, which is very exciting, but also a bit scary as I am a technophobe. I have looked around at other writer's websites and can see their potential. I can display my portfolio, so that clients/employers can see my work.
I spent all Friday finishing an article for the December issue of Vitality matters, and then due to an advertiser coming in at the last minute, it's going to be in next months issue instead. I was a bit disappointed, but also pleased as I won't have to do one next month, as we will probably have a lot of work to do over the Christmas break.
I have also written a piece for bloc online, which is a website for writers maintained by the students on the course. It was up for the Guardian Student media award, and came second. So at last some of my writing will be out there for all to see.
I have also just written a short story, that I am pleased with. This is an indication of my improvement, as I am not really a story writer. I aim to concentrate on feature writing and non-fiction writing.
Anyway, I am making progress which is great. The adventure continues.

The adventure continues

I’m going to get my writing published!
Today I went to visit a local free magazine, which is about health and wellbeing. I took some of my writing and the editor liked it. They agreed I could do some writing for them, and I can do a work placement there. Only thing is, the first article needs to be in next week. I’m sure I can do it, and I have had some brilliant ideas already. I decided one article a month would be good to start with, so I can keep up with the course work.
One thing I’ve learnt over the past few years is to pace myself, and to know when I need to rest, as when I get tired, I get low. I did tell them about my mental health, and they actually offer training to people from an organisation called Pentreath Industries. Pentreath help people with mental health problems back to work. I have worked with this organisation before, and I really respect what they do.
The adventure continues.