Creeping along.....

Thats what the word count for the new novel will be doing this week, sadly: I have an assignment for my OU creative writing course due on the 29th, and although I've got lots of notes I've got nothing approaching the requisite 40 lines of poetry yet, so I shall be honouring my time-served, Douglas Adams inspired approach to deadlines, an approach I have honed over two degrees and countless short courses over the years. The "skin of the teeth" method seems to work for me, somehow.

Also, much as I am dying to plunge headlong into the new novel I have resigned myself to laying some good foundations, as thus far I only have a main character, the object of her obsession and a very vague plot idea. I don't want to hit a wall of unpreparedness, so this week will be spent on plot outlines, character sketches, etc. I think the plotting will be the toughest for me ~ ideas and characters come fairly easily, its what to do with them that gets me stuck.
So as well as reading the excellent "Wannabe a Writer?" (me and 99% of the rest of the writing world seem to be reading this right now! And rightly so, it's very funny) and attempting to relive my honeymoon with "Almost French" (and proving to myself in the process that I am far, far too much of a coward to move to a foreign country! Or at least a one with a foreign language that I'm none too fluent in. ) I have also started to read "The Plot Thickens", in the hope of gleaning some plotting tips. If anyone has any other books / articles / websites they can recommend for plotting advice I will be very grateful to hear of them .

Least shock headline of the day: "Rain delays start of Wimbledon". Well I never.....

Buzzing!

A fantastic idea for a novel has just hit me! Actually its a theme that's been in the back of my mind for a long time, but never really had enough about it to expad into a full length piece. However I thought of two additional elements to add into the mix which will mesh together nicely and really beef it up.

I'm so excited I can't sit still ~ I've just bashed out the first paragraph and made a set of notes of basic content along with a "to do" list for plot and character development exercises, which I'll get onto tonight.

It's a relief, as the momentum for the DeadBeats novel has ebbed slightly ~ I am certainly still going to be working on it, but having been away from it for so long I'm not quite sure how or where to pick up, so hopefuly having this new book running alongside will help by taking the pressure off ~ maybe if I'm focussing on something else the DeadBeats will simmer away simmer way in my subconcsious until I've got something really tasty to go back to.

Loving having something to be excited about again, after the post-wedding slump :-)

Back to reality

Second day back at work, and its dreadful. I woke up in the early hours of this morning wracked with worry about how we would ever afford for me to change careers and have a baby, and then I walk straight into a day from hell where it transpires that alongside the mountains of paperwork which accumulated in my absence and was dumped on me yesterday I am discovering many things left partially done (or ignored completely) by colleagues in my absence. This has resulted in a load of old cack for me to sift through, along with a barrage of bitching complaints from customers who haven’t been responded to. I locked myself in the loo and cried for 5 minutes this morning, out of sheer frustration and misery. I am clinging to the very last shred of honeymoon serenity by the skin of my teeth. (and this is a very timely article that appeared on yahoo this morning ~ oh yes, I know it well!)


Speaking of timely, Kate’s gentle reminder about the spirit of the novel race was right on the button for me. Now that the wedding has passed I should have far more time and space for writing. The novel has been sorely neglected over the last few months (I can write a novel anytime, I reasoned, but I’ll only be getting married once) but I’m ready to get back to it. I hope I still want to write it, I am rather worried that it may have evaporated….. Maybe something new will start to glimmer and beg to be written instead, or as well as.

And I’m in the process of updating the novel racer’s list and catching up with you all too.

I’m going to aim for 5000 words a week ~ I know I probably won’t make it every week, but I always tend to aim higher than is entirely realistic. But as part of my new “married woman” outlook I’ll be treating my writing time with the respect it deserves and guarding it with pride.
Our wedding gift list booty gets delivered tonight, however, so I see tonight’s word count being nil whilst we play with coffee makers and duvets and toasters (oh my!)

A quick update....

I return to this blog a (very happily!) married woman.

Our wedding was utterly wonderful. Perfect. We arrived back from honeymoon late last night, so I'm currently in a frenzy of laundry and food shopping (ok, I admit I am mooning around in front of the pc gazing at our pics again. And again. And again) but over the next few days I'll post a bit more about it all, as well as setting out my new and improved writing plans and popping round to catch up on all of your blogs.

Maybe just one more lok at the wedding pictures first though ......