I've just received my mark for the OU Creative Writing course A215, and am thrilled to announce that I received a DISTINCTION!!
Only 6% of the course finishers acheived that grade (91 out of 1444) so I am very very pleased indeed.It's one hell of a boost to my writing confidence, and seeing as I'm full of bouncy new motivation for the WIP it will inspire me to bang that word count up quite considerably.
My voice and use of language were classified as "excellent", which is especially useful to me as I've never been fully confident in my voice, and have a tendency to over-write.
If only I could have a drink to celebrate (but that's a whole other lot of good news .... ;--) )
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Good news is abounding all over the place. Bestest best friend in the world has just got engaged, and I couldn't be happier for them. And it means I'll get to go to another wedding, one where I get to watch it all unfold before me rather than being slap bang in the middle of things, like I was at the most recent wedding I attended (i.e. mine).
But the universe is nothing if not balanced, hence my shocking unpreparedness for Christmas, and the husband's perforated ear-drum. Ah well, Christmas is only one day, and ear drums heal (I'll just have to shout at him in the other one....)
Showing posts with label A215. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A215. Show all posts
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Can't think of a title
I really can’t (that doesn’t bode well for a budding author, does it?)
Nothing dramatic going on, but lots of lovely progress, in general really:
· The new book is starting to take shape, slowly but surely. I’m still only jotting brief paragraphs & ideas down at the minute, hence the mini-word count, but I’ve had some great ideas about character, themes, plot development, so I’m feeling very very positive about it. On the subject of plot development, many thanks to everyone who has shared their plotting ideas and book suggestions with me, both on here and over on the novel racer’s blog. I am creating a sort of amalgamated version of several of the suggestions and coming up with my own peculiar method, and it seems to be working so far. I’ll blog a wee bit about it when the plotting is all in place.
· On Saturday I attended a writing day school as part of my OU A215 writing course ~ TOTALLY inspirational, and I’ve come away with a new project partially on the go ~ the topic was life-writing, something I never really envisaged myself really going for, as previous attempts at autobiographical writing have been quite difficult for me. Nothing seems to come to me, apart from things that I don’t wish to write about, and I am fearful of offending my family and friends too (it feels like a gross intrusion to write about them, to create a version of them that they have no control over).
We tried out a few exercises in the class, and I found that a lot of childhood memories of my grandparents flooded out. In fact everything I wrote that day was connected to them somehow. Ever since I have found myself frequently recalling memories of them, especially related to their house (which is, incidentally, the house in which myself and my husband now live ~ we purchased it from my grandmother when she moved into a bungalow). I feel like I’m surrounded by ghosts, not in a spooky sense, but in a personal and emotional sense.
So, for reasons as yet unknown to me, there are stories about the house trying to get out, and I think I’d better start recording them. I’ve set a notebook aside especially for writing these memories and anecdotes down as they come to me. As I said, no idea what they’re for, just yet, but I think it will all come to make sense eventually (as well as giving me a head start on my life writing assignment for the course, too).
· I’ve been running again, a lot, after the pre-wedding / honeymoon hiatus. It’s a relief to get back into it, to be honest ~ not least as the writer’s backside is developing an unattractive case of post-wedding spread. No, its nice to be getting back to being fit again, and to getting outdoors for the inspiration. Tonnes of ideas occur to me when I’m running, usually triggered by happening upon something I would not have seen otherwise. I’m still nursing, from several years ago, the image of a buckled metal fence, with bits of car bumper embedded in it, with a bouquet of those trick flowers that a magician would use lying nearby. There’s a story there somewhere, I’m sure…. On Sunday I went running in Jesmond Dene, and I’m still smiling ~ absolutely beautiful location.
Facebook: there’s a lot of it about all of a sudden, isn’t there? I don’t really know what I’m doing, why I’ve been invited/added or what it’s for ~ is it like Myspace but for grown ups?.....
Nothing dramatic going on, but lots of lovely progress, in general really:
· The new book is starting to take shape, slowly but surely. I’m still only jotting brief paragraphs & ideas down at the minute, hence the mini-word count, but I’ve had some great ideas about character, themes, plot development, so I’m feeling very very positive about it. On the subject of plot development, many thanks to everyone who has shared their plotting ideas and book suggestions with me, both on here and over on the novel racer’s blog. I am creating a sort of amalgamated version of several of the suggestions and coming up with my own peculiar method, and it seems to be working so far. I’ll blog a wee bit about it when the plotting is all in place.
· On Saturday I attended a writing day school as part of my OU A215 writing course ~ TOTALLY inspirational, and I’ve come away with a new project partially on the go ~ the topic was life-writing, something I never really envisaged myself really going for, as previous attempts at autobiographical writing have been quite difficult for me. Nothing seems to come to me, apart from things that I don’t wish to write about, and I am fearful of offending my family and friends too (it feels like a gross intrusion to write about them, to create a version of them that they have no control over).
We tried out a few exercises in the class, and I found that a lot of childhood memories of my grandparents flooded out. In fact everything I wrote that day was connected to them somehow. Ever since I have found myself frequently recalling memories of them, especially related to their house (which is, incidentally, the house in which myself and my husband now live ~ we purchased it from my grandmother when she moved into a bungalow). I feel like I’m surrounded by ghosts, not in a spooky sense, but in a personal and emotional sense.
So, for reasons as yet unknown to me, there are stories about the house trying to get out, and I think I’d better start recording them. I’ve set a notebook aside especially for writing these memories and anecdotes down as they come to me. As I said, no idea what they’re for, just yet, but I think it will all come to make sense eventually (as well as giving me a head start on my life writing assignment for the course, too).
· I’ve been running again, a lot, after the pre-wedding / honeymoon hiatus. It’s a relief to get back into it, to be honest ~ not least as the writer’s backside is developing an unattractive case of post-wedding spread. No, its nice to be getting back to being fit again, and to getting outdoors for the inspiration. Tonnes of ideas occur to me when I’m running, usually triggered by happening upon something I would not have seen otherwise. I’m still nursing, from several years ago, the image of a buckled metal fence, with bits of car bumper embedded in it, with a bouquet of those trick flowers that a magician would use lying nearby. There’s a story there somewhere, I’m sure…. On Sunday I went running in Jesmond Dene, and I’m still smiling ~ absolutely beautiful location.
Facebook: there’s a lot of it about all of a sudden, isn’t there? I don’t really know what I’m doing, why I’ve been invited/added or what it’s for ~ is it like Myspace but for grown ups?.....
Friday, April 13, 2007
Hi everyone,
Kate Harrison raised the issue of writing rituals in this weeks coffee break: I don't think I have any writing rituals or superstitions (other than keeping it all a closely guarded secret from everyone bar my fiance until i feel I'm at a strong enough point to start sharing). I write in longhand in notebooks with a fountain pen to start with, and then transfer it all onto my laptop, but I'm not sure if thats really a ritual or just the fact that I am a bit of a luddite.
WIP: I have made some progress, and also some not progress ~ the word count has ground to a near standstill as life is getting very very hectic (upcoming wedding ~ don't know if I mentioned it about a billion times or so, plus the usual "real life" stuff that clogs up the flow ~ I don't so much need a room of my own as a soundproof isolation chamber that locks from the inside. Maybe I can get one of those when I get the lottery win that will allow the day job to take a running jump....) so I am fairly behind on the novel, my A215 course and a short story I am working on too. I think i'll have the face facts that there will be very little headway made until after the honeymoon, but I only plan to marry once and so I'm gong to make sure that I really enjoy this.
So, little word count process, but the ideas are still bubbling ~ as this is the first novel I've tackled I don't quite know what i'm doing yet, and I came to realise that whilst the tension between my two main protagonists is central to my plot I don't quite know enough about my supporting cast of characters to provide a fully authentic "colouring in" of the rest. So any spare novel time this weekend will be spent "interviewing" my peripheral characters in order to beef them up a bit. I'll be doing some "hot seat" question and answer sessions just as soon as I've devised soem suitably searching questions.
Hope the sun is shining on you all, happy writing,
Kate
Kate Harrison raised the issue of writing rituals in this weeks coffee break: I don't think I have any writing rituals or superstitions (other than keeping it all a closely guarded secret from everyone bar my fiance until i feel I'm at a strong enough point to start sharing). I write in longhand in notebooks with a fountain pen to start with, and then transfer it all onto my laptop, but I'm not sure if thats really a ritual or just the fact that I am a bit of a luddite.
WIP: I have made some progress, and also some not progress ~ the word count has ground to a near standstill as life is getting very very hectic (upcoming wedding ~ don't know if I mentioned it about a billion times or so, plus the usual "real life" stuff that clogs up the flow ~ I don't so much need a room of my own as a soundproof isolation chamber that locks from the inside. Maybe I can get one of those when I get the lottery win that will allow the day job to take a running jump....) so I am fairly behind on the novel, my A215 course and a short story I am working on too. I think i'll have the face facts that there will be very little headway made until after the honeymoon, but I only plan to marry once and so I'm gong to make sure that I really enjoy this.
So, little word count process, but the ideas are still bubbling ~ as this is the first novel I've tackled I don't quite know what i'm doing yet, and I came to realise that whilst the tension between my two main protagonists is central to my plot I don't quite know enough about my supporting cast of characters to provide a fully authentic "colouring in" of the rest. So any spare novel time this weekend will be spent "interviewing" my peripheral characters in order to beef them up a bit. I'll be doing some "hot seat" question and answer sessions just as soon as I've devised soem suitably searching questions.
Hope the sun is shining on you all, happy writing,
Kate
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Oh, what a beautiful morning......
....oh, yesterday was a beautiful day!
Actually, I've been having a lovely time since Monday evening (yes, sorry, that does sound unbearably smug and "Pollyanna"...). I spent ALL of monday evening reading and writing, which felt extremely satisying and productive. And then yesterday I made an early start as the fiance had to be up unfeasibly early for work, so i attempted some morning pages (ok, morning page, singular) despite the fact that my eyes were barely open. I've never quite got the hang of morning pages, so i wasn't best pleased to see them rear their head in A215: I attempted them previously when I was working through The Artist's Way, but I am really not a morning person so I've never managed to keep them up for very long. Plus, I have a friend who had a very nasty experience where uncensored subconscious outpourings + prying eyes of someone who really shouldn't have been looking = hideous big emotional mess. Hhhmm, might perservere with them a bit longer, as I can see the benefit, but I doubt i'll ever be able to write in a truly uncensored fashion....
Then yesterday evening I went for a lovely run of 5.55 miles. It was intended to be a 6-miler, but I had to snip a wee bitt off the end because I felt like I needed the loo. The only time I suffer from penis envy is when I'm caught short on a run....Anyway I reasoned I desereved the treat of not doing the last half mile as I has broken a personal record over the first 4.5 miles, and was feeling like I'd worked hard enough already. Its lovely now that it stay lighter for longer, and it was just heading into dusk as I set off, which makes everything look mauve and grey and pretty (even if I WAS running through an industrial estate!) Nice hot shower, steak sandwich and chips, Life on Mars on the TV ~ pretty perfect all round!
Fiance is out tonight so I will get a tonne of writing done. Think I've finally got my mojo back now that we're shaking off the cold clamp of winter. I have an assignment for A215 to do, so i'll get that done tonight and see if submission of our first tuorial pieces goes any way towards shaking awake the graveyard which is my online tutorial group...
