wurdburd

Two sides to every story might be the way - but what if the story involves more than two people? Which two do you choose to put in their tuppence worth? Whats wrong with having more than two sides - can you justify the others remaining silent when their points bear validity also and help you see a better picture? Try telling my three children that there are only two sides to a story, and in return you’ll get a clear idea of a joint response. Mmmmm, well if that means they agree on something…..

Be ready to hear a third, maybe even a fourth voice. Much more and it may start resembling a session in Government, or maybe a circus act - (nb can these two be one and the same)

So it is with fair heart and open mind I go forward into November.

or empty post? Tonight all my writing energy is being taken by the book, so forgive me any drivel on this update. Oh and the housedust created when I dared be a little more thorough with the hoover this morning. The spiders were not entirely signing up to my fanclub after I attacked their home with the well-known sock on broom handle method. Thanks Kym and Aggie I owe you one. My daughter likes this task normally, but so engrossed was she with turning her bedroom in to a perfect camp and hideout, for her and her brother and sister, that I got to do it.

How am I becoming so animated by housework - its worrying. Still, now I have 10,509 /70,000 an the plot is still going. With extra little twists and turns along the way - in the words of Stephen Fry ‘like a twisty turny thing’ during Blackadder Two. A wonderfully comical piece of work by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton. Oh how I yearn for the talents shown by these people.

I digress - from this blog entry forward I shall add a wordcount - as brave or fool hardy this may be. Make it public how well or how bad I am doing. Please if anyone who reads this and has any words of wisdom, do your thing like your teacher told you and Share!

thats all for now - My ‘family’ beckon

So three days to go - then - let the madness commence!

Lets be honest here the madness already began somewhere back in the summer when I first decided to give this whole thing a whirl. Oh the sun-baked days in the heat of the British summer. Yep I can also write pure comedy.

In those days - about July I think, I had not long signed up for a college course, and the rose tinted specs were well and truly removed from the glasses case. Maybe the visions got a bit blurred with Assessment Five, so I hereby declare my own policy that I will give everything my all, have fun in November, and enjoy a fabulous Christmas knowing these targets are in the past. Maybe not writing a thing - but lets not be daft. Of course I will, December is full of potential -food for thought. Or is it just full of food?

Perhaps a little of both……….

Everyone cries - what’s wrong with that? the tears come and they can be for any reason. What’s up with a bit of pent up frustration from time to time - sure I have it when I have the usual too much to do and so little time in which to do it - back to that campaign for more hours. Well now there are only 4 days until the 1st November. My writing buddies and I are gearing up for a fun, if a little hysterical, month of frenzied writing. We are all ready to support each other and at the end? Maybe we will have the success that every writer longs for - acceptance. Acknowledgment that it’s all been worth it - and quite possibly repetitive strain injury.

Christmas will be a breeze compared to what we are about to undertake. Though there are some extremely good tales about to unfold, a little wish of luck would be more than gratefully received I am sure

Time waits for no man - or woman, especially when they are shopping.

The hours tick by, seasons change, clocks fall back and spring forward. But how best to show this in a novel? In a film, you can show time elapsing by your characters wearing different hairstyles, clothing changes. Even something as simple as season change can be easily shown.

In a novel, it appears that it is a more delicate approach required to not confuse your dear reader. Is it the right or wrong thing to do to refer to a current event - therefore dating the story? Would that help people relate to what is happening, A lot of people buy historical novels but the history is further removed than five to ten years. There is of course the longstanding conversations - people know where they were when JFK was shot (I don’t - before my time) or when John Lennon was killed by Mark Chapman. Maybe it is a good thing to have a international - or even national event referred to. Or does it simply detract from the story you are telling - do they become lost in personal reverie? Is that a positive thing or negative?

Maybe just a vague referrence is enough. I trust that my readers can make as much or as little of it as they like.

I’ll wait and see

Now of course I want my readers to identify with my characters, and to do this I want the characters to have substance and real attributes and traits. Like we all do. Its getting late, the kids are still awake and so I lay on the sofa, plugged into my laptop, playing a favourite CD. I just have to hear the voices of Stevie Nicks and co, aka Fleetwood Mac, and I can sit back, relax and type away

So why should it be any different for my characters ? Already with 6 days to go until the first day of November, I am eating sleeping and breathing my characters - my novel ‘family’ putting them in all sorts of situations where as real people they would want to - need t0 - wind down. Why not listen to music? go for a walk and kick some leaves? sit on a bench and people watch.

Looking at these family members, together - how old are they - what kind of music would be charting - in the days before downloads, when people went out and bought records ? Then looking at them individually, you’ve probably got most types of music covered, but what if you have someone who favours the gregorian chant against gangsta rap - then you open up a whole new opportunity..

Though my latest idea hit by the end of writing this novel I will have compiled a CD of material to listen while reading the book. I think my husband would say this is called line extension

So much written about how authors choose character names, baby books, class register, weather reports

Yes the last two should definitely feature. Though some names come from a class register, they are in no way based on the actual people. If those with my character names grow up to be as I portray them, maybe I am in the wrong game and should go for a career in fortune telling. Weather reports are good, not just the obvious,like Gail and Sky, but a tempestuous redhead called Storme, a laid back brunette called Breeze. Also Raine - well, why not? I quite like Blizzard

Got into my stride now - one look at a colour wheel, Scarlet, Blue, Bruno, they are all there. All ripe for the picking..

Though talking of picking, sorry Chris and Gwyneth, may not have thought of Apple. Maybe they came up with that after a weekly shop?

Who invented tomato sauce/ketchup? It has its place - in a pasta sauce maybe or on a pizza. Though I am talking the real stuff here not the squeezy bottle full of additives that emits suspect noises when tipped up and squirted. There really is no need to use it to the extent that some do………..

However, this appears to be totally irrelevant to this writing blog - after all whats a condiment got to do with writing novels? Quite a lot as I see it. And it also shows how you can gain ideas from pretty much anything for character traits - just little things like annoying sounds made by squeezy sauce bottles, rolling up a toothpaste tube, or putting empty packets back in the cupboard. We tend to like books with characters whom we can identify - so why not pluck from real life? You can’t make it up, can you? We, as humans, are an inexhaustible source, no plastic bottle, no glass, and definitely no additives required.

Monday rolls round - much better than last week. Searching round for lots of wood to touch before I comment how my kids are all better. I have college work this week, an attempt at my entry for the Poet Laureate competition, perhaps a draft of the next chapter of the novel, time at school. I am starting a campaign for more hours in the day. Anyone joining?

Problem is the more hours we have the more we find we need to do - but never actually seem to get anywhere.

Then tonight a breakthrough!  Inspiration hit so fast and this girl can’t stop typing. A main character springs to life and wants her story told. Okay, I am just the writer, let her rip. Kind of like a can of worms, but less of a gardening aspect. Oh and you wouldn’t catch me opening a can of worms, its not true that they regenerate when halved, much more of a sludgy mess on the kitchen floor. God bless little boys……

I do believe it is said that authors draw inspiration from life experiences - does that include doing a weekly shop? If this is so, then I just carried out my research in the supermarket. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. In the same way knowing that I am working towards ideas for my novel makes fighting through wayward trolleys and fellow customers with all the time in the world just a little easier to bear. Just how long can you ponder over scouring pads?

Once you have got through the checkout, hunted frantically for your refund ticket for the carpark, remembered where you parked and reloaded the car…Along comes the next battle. Actually leaving the carpark. You need eyes in the back of your head, watching for the child who is chasing the balloon across the road, completely oblivious to the screech of horns all around them. Nobody appears to give any thought to others, the shared goal being the exit and then possibly the worse part of all. Putting it away. When we shop most of us do it not out of love, but necessity because our cupboards, fridges and freezers are bare. So how come the groceries we bought not only have a struggle for space, but end up with surplus stock on the worktop of jars, boxes and packets. Sitting down finally and groaning over the receipt that shows we have gone over budget - again. Hunting through the cupboards for meal inspirations - but all power of thought has left

It’s all too much - I’m phoning for a pizza……..